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David Eisinger
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static/archive/akihikomatsumoto-com-f893mi.txt
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[1]≡
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Akihiko Matsumoto
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Presets & Originality
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プリセットとオリジナリティ
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In medieval composition, it was common practice to quote existing chants and
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layer new melodies on top of them. Creating everything from scratch was rare
|
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and not the mainstream approach to composition. This stands in stark contrast
|
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to modern composition practices, where copyright laws are firmly established
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and sampling is subject to restrictions. The concept of originality has
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continuously evolved over time, making it one of the central themes in the
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history of music.
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Even in our time, the perception of what is considered creative continues to
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evolve, and understanding and responding to these changes may be essential.
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This text focuses on sound presets in music production and reexamines their
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creative potential. Even those not involved in music production may question
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the creativity of utilizing existing assets or the legacies of past creators. I
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hope to offer a perspective for those who share such concerns.
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To conclude from the outset, while I am involved in creating presets for
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commercial products, as a composer, I also use presets crafted by other sound
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designers without any modification. This choice is guided by a distinct
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aesthetic sensibility. In this essay, I aim to explore how presets are
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perceived from various perspectives, incorporating examples from 20th-century
|
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art, and propose an approach to them from a composer's standpoint.
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中世の作曲は既存の聖歌を引用し、その上に新たなメロディーを重ねることが一般的な
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技法であり、すべてを1から作ることは珍しく、作曲行為の主流ではありませんでした。
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著作権の概念が確立され、サンプリングに制約がある現代とは大きく異なる作曲の慣習
|
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がそこにはあります。オリジナリティという概念は時代とともに変化し続けており、そ
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れ自体が音楽史において重要なテーマの一つと言えるでしょう。
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私たちの時代においても、何が創造的であるかの認識は時代とともに変化しており、そ
|
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の変化を理解し、対応することが求められているのかもしれません。本テキストでは音
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楽制作における音色のプリセットに焦点を当て、その創造性について再考します。音楽
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制作に携わらない人でも既存のアセットや先人の遺産を利用することの創造性に対する
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疑問が浮かんでいる人はいるかもしれません。そんな人たちに一つの視座を示せればと
|
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考えております。
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結論から申し上げると、私は商業的な製品のプリセット制作にも関わる一方、作曲家と
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して他のサウンドデザイナーが創り出したプリセットを一切編集せずに使用することも
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あり、その選択には確固たる美意識が存在します。ここではどのような意識で音色のプ
|
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リセットを捉えているのかについて20世紀以降のアートの事例を交えながら、作曲家と
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しての考え方を提案したいと思います。
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Digital vs Analog
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デジタルとアナログ
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[mpc2000xl-min]
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AKAI MPC2000XL(2001)
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The terms "analog" and "digital" are commonly heard in daily life, often
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evoking a dichotomy between the physical and the virtual. However, in the realm
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of music, their meanings take on a slightly different nuance. In physical
|
||||
products, the distinction between analog and digital is often based on the
|
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circuit technology behind their sound generation. Even in software, some synths
|
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replicate digital synthesis algorithms, while others emulate the behavior of
|
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analog synths. Identifying whether a product’s mechanism originates from analog
|
||||
or digital principles can be surprisingly complex.
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What is fascinating is that sound itself is inherently analog. Even if it
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undergoes digital conversion at some stage, it ultimately returns to an analog
|
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signal—becoming sound once again. In the process of music production, analog
|
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and digital elements intertwine at various stages, each serving its purpose in
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the pursuit of sonic expression.
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The difference between analog and digital synthesizers can be compared to a
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gentle slope and a staircase. Analog synthesizers allow for smooth and
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continuous changes in sound, making it easy to express subtle nuances. For
|
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example, just like bending a guitar string gradually, an analog synth can
|
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produce natural variations and delicate tonal shifts. On the other hand,
|
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digital synthesizers change sound in distinct steps, similar to a staircase.
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Each step ensures stability, allowing the sound to remain consistent. Digital
|
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synths can store and recall sounds with precise accuracy, making it easy to
|
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switch between different tones instantly.
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Analog synthesis is ideal for creating organic fluctuations and expressive
|
||||
sound movement, while digital synthesis excels in accuracy and consistency. The
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advantage of digital synthesizers lies in their preset functionality, allowing
|
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users to instantly recall and apply saved sounds efficiently.
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|
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「アナログ」と「デジタル」という言葉は日常生活の中でもよく耳にするもので、フィ
|
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ジカルとバーチャルという対比を思い浮かべがちな二律背反の概念ですが、音楽の世界
|
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ではその意味合いが少し異なります。フィジカルな製品の中身の回路技術的な発音方式
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でアナログとデジタルが区分されたり、ソフトウェアの中でもデジタルシンセのアルゴ
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リズムを模したものとアナログシンセの挙動を模したものがあり、その製品の仕組みが
|
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アナログ由来であるのかデジタル由来であるのかを見分けるのは意外と難しいのです。
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興味深いのは音そのものは本来完全にアナログであるという点です。たとえどこかの過
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程でデジタルに変換されたとしても、最終的には必ずアナログ信号すなわち、音として
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再現されるのです。音楽制作のプロセスでは、さまざまな段階でアナログとデジタルの
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処理が適材適所で絡み合っています。
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アナログシンセサイザーとデジタルシンセサイザーの違いを例えるなら、アナログはな
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だらかな坂道、デジタルは階段のようなものです。アナログは音がなめらかに変化し、
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途中の細かなニュアンスまで自由に表現できます。たとえば、ギターの弦をゆっくり押
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し上げるような、微妙な音の揺れや変化を作り出せます。一方、デジタルシンセは階段
|
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のように段階的にパラメータが変わります。決まったステップごとに数値が変わるため
|
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安定した状態を保つのが得意で、音色は正確に記録・再現でき一瞬で切り替えられるの
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も特徴です。
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アナログは自然な音のゆらぎや繊細な変化を表現するのに向いており、デジタルは一度
|
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作った音色を正確に再現しいつでも同じ音を呼び出せるのが強みです。デジタルシンセ
|
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のプリセット機能を使えば、あらかじめ作った音色をボタン一つで呼び出せるため効率
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的に音作りができます。
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Presets
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プリセット
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|
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Roland JP-8080 (1998)
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Eternal Preset Pack [2]https://www.aiynzahev-sounds.com/products/
|
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jp-8000-eternal
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|
||||
One of the greatest benefits that digital technology has brought to music
|
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production is the concept of the "preset." This feature, which allows users to
|
||||
instantly recall pre-designed sounds, was made possible through advancements in
|
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digital technology.
|
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In the era when all synthesizer circuits were built solely with analog
|
||||
components, instruments with preset functionality were extremely limited.
|
||||
Moreover, the rise of the internet has lowered the barrier to distributing
|
||||
presets created by others. It is not uncommon for new presets to be developed
|
||||
and released after 2020 for digital synthesizers that ceased production in the
|
||||
1990s.
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|
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Next, let's summarize the benefits of digital synthesizers with preset sound
|
||||
management.
|
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|
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• Instant Recall and Consistency
|
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|
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Digital synthesizers allow users to accurately store and recall created
|
||||
sounds. Switching between tones and reusing them is effortless, making it
|
||||
possible to minimize the time spent on sound design.
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|
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• Vast Sound Variations
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|
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Many digital synthesizers are designed to replicate a wide range of synth
|
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sounds within a single unit. They typically come with a large memory
|
||||
capacity, housing an extensive collection of presets. Even those without
|
||||
sound design skills can instantly access well-crafted sounds, making it
|
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easy to incorporate current trends.
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|
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• Saving Complex Settings
|
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|
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Digital synthesizers can store complex sound settings, including modulation
|
||||
routing and effect chains. This enables users to efficiently manage
|
||||
intricate sound designs that would be difficult to remember manually.
|
||||
|
||||
• Easy Sharing and Customization
|
||||
|
||||
Preset data can be saved as files and shared with others, allowing users to
|
||||
exchange sounds online or customize existing presets with ease.
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|
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• A Learning Tool
|
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|
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Presets serve as a valuable resource for learning sound design. By
|
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analyzing how specific tones are created, users can gain a deeper
|
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understanding of synthesizer functionality and creative approaches.
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|
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• Sound Quality and Stability
|
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|
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Unlike analog components, which can be unstable, digital synthesizers
|
||||
ensure that high frequencies remain intact, tuning stays precise, and
|
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sounds remain free from unwanted noise.
|
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|
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デジタル技術が音楽制作に与えた最も大きな恩恵のひとつが、「プリセット」という概
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念です。あらかじめ作られた音色を簡単に呼び出せるこの機能は、デジタル技術の進化
|
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によって実現されました。全ての回路がアナログ素子によって構成されていた時代では
|
||||
、プリセット機能を備えたシンセサイザーは非常に限られていました。さらにインター
|
||||
ネットによって誰かが作ったプリセットを流通させる敷居も下がりました。1990年代に
|
||||
製造が停止されたデジタルシンセサイザーのプリセットが2020年以降に新たに作られて
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||||
リリースされることも珍しくありません。
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|
||||
次にプリセットによって音色を管理できるデジタルシンセサイザーのメリットをまとめ
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||||
てみます。
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|
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• 即時性と再現性
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|
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デジタルシンセは作成した音色を正確に保存・呼び出し可能です。音色の切り替え
|
||||
や二次利用も容易で、音作りに時間を使うことを限りなくゼロにすることも可能に
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||||
なります。
|
||||
|
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• 膨大な音色バリエーション
|
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|
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1台で多様なシンセのサウンドを再現できるように設計されていることが多く、通常
|
||||
は大容量メモリーに支えられた大量のプリセットが内蔵されています。音色を作る
|
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スキルがない人でもすぐに作り込まれた音を出すことが可能で流行を即座に取り入
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||||
れることも難しくありません。
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||||
|
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• 複雑な設定の保存
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|
||||
モジュレーションの適用先やエフェクトの接続順など複雑な音色設定も一括して保
|
||||
存できるため、自分の頭ではいつまでもどのように音が作られているのか覚えてい
|
||||
ることが難しいような複雑な音作りも効率的に管理できます。
|
||||
|
||||
• 共有とカスタマイズのしやすさ
|
||||
|
||||
プリセットデータをファイルとして保存・共有できるため、オンラインで他のユー
|
||||
ザーと音色を交換したり、既存のプリセットをベースに自分なりにカスタマイズす
|
||||
るのも簡単です。
|
||||
|
||||
• 学習ツールとしての役割
|
||||
|
||||
プリセットは他者の音作りを学ぶ際の参考になります。特定の音色がどのように作
|
||||
られているかを視覚的に分析しやすいため、シンセの使い方や発想の理解が深まり
|
||||
ます。
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|
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• 音色、音質
|
||||
|
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不安定なアナログの部品による制約を受けないため音色はどこまでも高域が劣化せ
|
||||
ず、チューニングも安定しノイズが無いクリーンな状態で作ることが可能です。
|
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|
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The Era of Presets
|
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大プリセット時代
|
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|
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YAMAHA DX7
|
||||
(1983)
|
||||
|
||||
In the 1980s, before computers became widely accessible, the wave of
|
||||
digitalization in the music world had already become common, with the arrival
|
||||
of digital synthesizers such as the YAMAHA FM synthesizer DX7 (1983), which led
|
||||
to the creation of various presets and the sharing and exchanging of data.
|
||||
One of the key turning points in transforming synthesizers from "things you
|
||||
make sounds on" to "things you choose presets from" was the DX7.
|
||||
|
||||
The appeal of the DX7 lay in its vast array of presets, something unheard of in
|
||||
the analog era. Electric pianos, organs, basses, and other sounds were widely
|
||||
used in pop music, film scores, and commercial music at the time. It became an
|
||||
essential tool for producers, allowing them to focus on music creation without
|
||||
spending excessive time crafting sounds from scratch.
|
||||
Additionally, the DX7 fostered a culture of preset sharing among users. Presets
|
||||
were exchanged between DX7 owners, playing a crucial role in spreading new
|
||||
sounds and ideas in music production. This culture of exchanging sounds
|
||||
continues today through sample packs and software presets.
|
||||
|
||||
Remarkably, DX7 presets have demonstrated incredible longevity. More than 40
|
||||
years after its release, these presets are still widely distributed
|
||||
online—something that was impossible in the 1980s. Since 2020, new electronic
|
||||
instruments such as opsix, Dexed, Plaits, and DX7V have been released, all
|
||||
capable of importing and playing DX7 presets.
|
||||
However, the sound of the DX7 and these modern instruments can differ
|
||||
significantly due to variations in hardware algorithms, sampling rates, and
|
||||
aliasing processing. This highlights the unique characteristics of different DA
|
||||
converters—the components responsible for transforming digital data into analog
|
||||
sound—offering a fresh perspective on how digital synthesis translates into
|
||||
real-world audio.
|
||||
|
||||
コンピューターが民主化される以前の1980年代には音楽の世界のデジタル化の波は一般
|
||||
的になっており、 YAMAHAのFMシンセサイザーのDX7(1983)に代表されるデジタルシンセ
|
||||
サイザーの登場とともにさまざまなプリセットが作られ、データが共有、交換されるよ
|
||||
うになっていきました。
|
||||
シンセサイザーを「自分で音を作るもの」から「プリセットを選んで使うもの」へと変
|
||||
化させたのはDX7が大きなきっかけの一つになりました。
|
||||
|
||||
DX7の魅力はアナログ時代にはありえなかったプリセットの豊富さにありました。エレク
|
||||
トリックピアノ、オルガン、ベースなど当時のポップミュージックや映画音楽、商業音
|
||||
楽に多く使われており音色を作ることに不必要に多すぎる時間をかけることなく制作に
|
||||
使えるツールとして非常に重宝されました。
|
||||
また、DX7はプリセットを他のユーザーと簡単に共有できる文化を生み出しました。プリ
|
||||
セットは他のDX7ユーザーと交換され、音楽制作の現場で新しい音色やアイデアを広める
|
||||
手段として重要な役割を果たしました。これは現在の音楽制作におけるサンプルパック
|
||||
やソフトウェアのプリセットの交換文化にもつながっています。
|
||||
|
||||
なおこのDX7のプリセットは驚異的な持続を見せており、40年以上経過した現在でも当時
|
||||
存在しなかったインターネット上で大量に流通しており、 opsixやdexed、plaits、DX7V
|
||||
などDX7用のプリセットをインポートして音を出すことが可能な電子楽器新製品すら2020
|
||||
年以降もリリースされています。しかし、DX7とこれらの機材は音に変換して奏でるハー
|
||||
ドウェア部分のアルゴリズムやサンプリングレート、エイリアスの処理の方法の違いが
|
||||
もあるため、それぞれ音色もかなり異なるものになります。あらためてデジタルデータ
|
||||
をアナログの音に変換する部品であるDAコンバーターごとの音の個性を考えるきっかけ
|
||||
になるかもしれません。
|
||||
|
||||
Yamaha DX7 sysex Sound patches
|
||||
[3]https://yamahablackboxes.com/collection/yamaha-dx7-synthesizer/patches/
|
||||
|
||||
Get original DX7 patches made by Brian Eno in 1987
|
||||
[4]https://cdm.link/get-original-dx7-patches-made-brian-eno-1987/
|
||||
|
||||
This DX7 Cartridge Does Not Exist
|
||||
[5]https://www.thisdx7cartdoesnotexist.com
|
||||
|
||||
Roland D-50
|
||||
(1987)
|
||||
|
||||
The Roland D-50, released in 1987, inherited the innovations of the DX7, the
|
||||
pioneer of FM synthesis, while expanding the possibilities of digital sound
|
||||
sources with its own unique approach. It adopted LA (Linear Arithmetic)
|
||||
synthesis, using actual sound sampling for the attack portion and subtractive
|
||||
synthesis for the sustain portion, significantly enhancing the expressive
|
||||
capabilities of digital synthesizers. Additionally, the D-50 introduced the
|
||||
groundbreaking concept of built-in effects, and its cinematic sounds created by
|
||||
chorus and reverb can be considered as the foundation of cinematic soundscapes
|
||||
that followed.
|
||||
|
||||
However, the D-50's interface was not as intuitive as those of modern
|
||||
synthesizers, requiring users to navigate through complex menu hierarchies.
|
||||
Like the DX7, this difficulty in creating presets made the process more
|
||||
challenging than in the analog era. As a result, the D-50 presented a new way
|
||||
of synthesizer use by including a vast number of refined, "ready-to-use"
|
||||
presets. Iconic presets of the D-50, such as Fantasia, Soundtrack, Digital
|
||||
Native Dance, Pizzagogo, and Glass Voices, were created by Eric Pershing, who
|
||||
was with Roland at the time. He continues to influence the music scene today as
|
||||
the head of Spectrasonics. The D-50's presets were used in numerous tracks from
|
||||
the '80s, ranging from Michael Jackson to Enya, and their unique sounds became
|
||||
symbolic of the era.
|
||||
|
||||
Using presets from the early days of digital synthesizers today allows for a
|
||||
kind of perfect reproduction of sounds, offering a way to incorporate the
|
||||
atmosphere of past eras into contemporary composition. This approach can be
|
||||
seen as distinct from sampling, as it preserves the original character of the
|
||||
sound. In such expressions, it may even be more fitting to refrain from editing
|
||||
the preset sounds.
|
||||
|
||||
In 2017, Roland developed a new set of 64 presets with the release of the D-05
|
||||
as part of their Boutique series. These presets can be imported and used in
|
||||
both the older D-50 and the software version, Roland Cloud D-50. This means
|
||||
that new presets for a synthesizer nearly 40 years old were created by the
|
||||
original manufacturer. For example, "Neo Horizon" retains the original
|
||||
architecture but brings a unique and fresh character that can be applied to
|
||||
modern music.
|
||||
|
||||
1987年に発表されたRoland D-50は、FMシンセシスの先駆者であるDX7の革新を受け継ぎ
|
||||
ながらも、独自のアプローチでデジタル音源の可能性を拡張したシンセサイザーです。
|
||||
アタック部分に実際の音のサンプリングを用い、持続部分に減算合成を組み合わせたLA
|
||||
（Linear Arithmetic）シンセシスを採用しており、その音響設計によってデジタルシン
|
||||
セサイザーの表現力を飛躍的に向上させました。さらに、シンセサイザーにエフェクト
|
||||
を内蔵するという画期的な試みもなされ、コーラスやリバーブによって生み出される深
|
||||
みのあるシネマティックなサウンドはD-50から始まったと言っても過言ではありません
|
||||
。
|
||||
|
||||
しかし、D-50のインターフェースは現在のように直感的ではなく、複雑なメニュー階層
|
||||
をたどる必要がありました。これはDX7と同様に「プリセットを作ること」をアナログ時
|
||||
代以上に困難にし、その結果D-50は「そのまま使える」洗練されたプリセットを数多く
|
||||
搭載することでシンセサイザーの新たなあり方を提示しました。 Fantasia、Soundtrack
|
||||
、Digital Native Dance、Pizzagogo、Glass Voices などD-50の象徴的なプリセットの
|
||||
多くは、当時ローランドに所属していたエリック・パーシングによって制作されました
|
||||
。現在、Spectrasonicsを率いる彼はその後も音楽シーンに多大な影響を与え続けていま
|
||||
す。 D-50のプリセットはマイケル・ジャクソンからエンヤに至るまで数多くの80年代の
|
||||
楽曲に使用されその独特な音色は時代の象徴となりました。
|
||||
|
||||
このような黎明期のデジタルシンセのプリセットを現在あえて使うということはある種
|
||||
の音色の完全コピーが可能になる一面があり、サンプリングとも異なる過去の時代の雰
|
||||
囲気の引用を作曲表現に加える選択肢を残しているとも言えるかもしれません。そのよ
|
||||
うな表現においてはむしろプリセットの音を編集しないほうが適切かもしれません。
|
||||
|
||||
2017年、RolandはBoutiqueシリーズのD-05のリリースに伴って新規に64音色のプリセッ
|
||||
トを開発しています。これは古いD-50やソフトウェア版のRoland Cloud D-50にインポー
|
||||
トして使うことも可能で、40年近く前の古いシンセサイザーのための新規プリセットが
|
||||
発売元のメーカーによって作られたということになります。 "Neo Horizon"などはかつ
|
||||
てのアーキテクチャーが使われながらも現在の音楽に適用可能な個性と新鮮さを持って
|
||||
いるのではないでしょうか。
|
||||
|
||||
D50 30th anniversary
|
||||
[6]https://www.roland.com/global/promos/d-50_30th_anniversary/
|
||||
|
||||
Spectrasonics Omnisphere
|
||||
(2008)
|
||||
|
||||
Eric Persing, a former sound designer at Roland, recognized the potential of
|
||||
software and the internet in the early 1990s. Breaking away from Roland, which
|
||||
was still hardware-focused at the time, he founded Spectrasonics.
|
||||
In 2008, Spectrasonics released Omnisphere, a groundbreaking instrument that
|
||||
combined synthesizer and sampler technologies, leaving a lasting mark on music
|
||||
production. From film scores to electronic music and pop, Omnisphere became a
|
||||
staple across countless genres, demonstrating its immense influence.
|
||||
|
||||
Omnisphere’s defining feature is its staggering variety of sounds—boasting over
|
||||
15,000 presets—paired with exceptional sound quality. Traditionally, presets
|
||||
were seen as mere "aids" to composition, but Omnisphere was designed with the
|
||||
idea that presets themselves could serve as the starting point for creativity.
|
||||
Its unique synthesis and sampling architecture was intended to encourage
|
||||
spontaneous musical discoveries.
|
||||
|
||||
This innovation is rooted in Persing’s philosophy that "tools should enhance
|
||||
the musician's creativity." By balancing an intuitive interface with deep sound
|
||||
design capabilities, Omnisphere created an environment where both professionals
|
||||
and amateurs could freely explore highly detailed sounds without technical
|
||||
barriers. Persing’s impact on music extends beyond Omnisphere. While at Roland,
|
||||
he played a key role in crafting the famous "Hoover" preset on the αJuno, a
|
||||
sound that became synonymous with rave culture. His atmospheric presets for the
|
||||
D-50 helped define an era of cinematic synth sounds, shaping the sonic
|
||||
landscape for years to come.
|
||||
|
||||
Omnisphere proved that using presets is not a limitation of creativity but a
|
||||
powerful tool for generating new ideas. Its innovation fundamentally
|
||||
transformed music production and became a major benchmark in modern sound
|
||||
design. Synthesizers have evolved beyond being just instruments; they have
|
||||
become catalysts for new ways of thinking about music and creativity itself.
|
||||
|
||||
ローランドのサウンドデザイナーであったエリック・パーシングは1990年代前半に、ソ
|
||||
フトウェアやインターネットの可能性に目をつけてハードウェア中心だった当時のロー
|
||||
ランドからスピンオフしSpectrasonicsを立ち上げました。
|
||||
Spectrasonicsが2008年に発表したOmnisphereは、シンセサイザーとサンプラーを融合さ
|
||||
せた画期的な音源として、音楽制作の歴史に刻まれました。映画音楽からエレクトロニ
|
||||
ックミュージック、ポップスに至るまで、あらゆるジャンルで愛用され、その影響力は
|
||||
計り知れません Omnisphereの最大の特徴は、15,000種類を超えるプリセットがもたらす
|
||||
圧倒的な音色の多様性と、そのクオリティにあります。
|
||||
従来、プリセットは「作曲の補助」として扱われてきましたが、Omnisphereではプリセ
|
||||
ットそのものが創造の出発点となることを前提に設計されています。シンセシスとサン
|
||||
プリングを統合した独自のアーキテクチャは、偶発的な音楽的発見を促すことが意図さ
|
||||
れています。
|
||||
|
||||
この革新の背景には、「ツールは音楽家の創造性を引き出すべきだ」というパーシング
|
||||
の哲学があります。類を見ないほどの大量のプリセットだけでなく直感的な操作性と高
|
||||
度なサウンドデザインを両立させたOmnisphereは、プロフェッショナルとアマチュアの
|
||||
垣根を越え、誰もが自由に高度に作り込まれた音色で音楽を創造できる環境を生み出し
|
||||
ました。
|
||||
パーシングが音楽の世界にもたらした影響はOmnisphereにとどまりません。彼がローラ
|
||||
ンド在籍時に手がけたαJunoの「Hoover」プリセットは、レイブカルチャーを象徴する普
|
||||
遍的音色となり、D-50の幻想的なプリセットは、シネマティックなシンセサウンドの新
|
||||
たな時代を切り開きました。
|
||||
|
||||
Omnisphereはプリセットを使うことは創造性の放棄ではなく、新たなアイデアを生み出
|
||||
すための強力な手段であることを示しました。その革新性は、音楽制作のあり方を根本
|
||||
から変え、現代のサウンドデザインにおける重要な指標となっています。シンセサイザ
|
||||
ーは単なる楽器の延長ではなく、音楽や発想そのものの進化を促す存在へと変化してい
|
||||
きました。
|
||||
|
||||
Eric Persing Roland History
|
||||
[7]https://www.spectrasonics.net/company/other/ep-roland.php?id=9
|
||||
|
||||
Preset and Compromise
|
||||
プリセットと妥協
|
||||
|
||||
[jp8080]
|
||||
|
||||
Have you ever experienced that the energy for making music is drained while
|
||||
creating sound? With the rise of digital synthesizers in the 1980s,
|
||||
high-quality presets provided by manufacturers made it easy to incorporate
|
||||
professional-grade sounds into one's music, even without the knowledge or skill
|
||||
to create sounds from scratch. At the same time, the act of using presets
|
||||
sparked a debate on whether it could truly be considered creative. In a world
|
||||
where electronic sounds could only be created by manually adjusting dials and
|
||||
sliders, the ability to summon various sounds with the push of a button
|
||||
dramatically changed the position of sound in music creation, shifting the
|
||||
landscape for musicians. Incorporating existing sounds into a context could
|
||||
also be seen as part of creativity, and even when creating unique sounds, there
|
||||
is a possibility that the final musical result might not directly reflect those
|
||||
efforts.
|
||||
|
||||
What I would like to reconsider here is whether there are truly situations in
|
||||
which a musician cannot reach their ideal music unless they create every
|
||||
element from scratch, given the vast array of software and presets available
|
||||
today. This is not just true for presets, but also for audio samples. In
|
||||
traditional Western music composition thinking, creating from scratch was
|
||||
considered the ultimate form of creativity, and the act of selecting sounds was
|
||||
seen as consumption. However, with the advancement of technology, the cost of
|
||||
information and data has dramatically decreased, and the era has shifted. The
|
||||
historical view that selecting presets was uncreative may have been due to the
|
||||
limitations in options, which often led to forced compromises in arrangements.
|
||||
The computer music from the era of the SC-88Pro indeed had very little freedom
|
||||
in terms of sound selection, and it made me question whether there was any
|
||||
creativity in making music with sounds that had to be chosen through
|
||||
compromise. However, today, with software synths offering an overwhelming
|
||||
number of presets, such as those found in Omnisphere, it might take years just
|
||||
to explore them all. Additionally, with the use of randomization and AI, it is
|
||||
now possible to instantly generate countless new sounds. Composers can focus on
|
||||
choosing the optimal sounds, immediately discarding unusable ones, and
|
||||
continuously experimenting with fresh new sounds. Isn't this a highly creative
|
||||
process? The abundance of options has made compromises in composition
|
||||
unnecessary.
|
||||
|
||||
音を作っているうちに音楽を作るエネルギーが消耗してしまうような経験はないでしょ
|
||||
うか。 1980年代のデジタルシンセサイザーの台頭とともにハイクオリティーなメーカー
|
||||
提供プリセットをそのまま使うことで、音を作る知識や技術がなくとも作品クオリティ
|
||||
ーの音色を自分の音楽に組み込むことは容易になりました。それと同時に、はたしてプ
|
||||
リセットを使う行為がクリエイティブであるのかという論争も同時に誕生することとな
|
||||
りました。それまでダイアルやスライダーを操作して試行錯誤して音色を作らなければ
|
||||
電子音を出すことが出来なかった世界から、ボタンひとつでさまざまな音を呼び出すこ
|
||||
とが可能になり、音楽制作における音色の位置付けは音楽家にとって大きく変化してい
|
||||
くことになります。既存の音をコンテクストに落とし込むことも創造性の一部と考えら
|
||||
られるでしょうし、独自の音作りをしても最終的な音楽としての仕上がりには直結しな
|
||||
い可能性も考えられます。
|
||||
|
||||
ここで改めて整理したいのは、これほど多くのソフトウェアやプリセットが存在する中
|
||||
で、果たして音楽家が自分自身で全ての要素をゼロから作らなければ理想の音楽に辿り
|
||||
着けない場面が本当にあるのかという問題です。プリセットのみならず、オーディオサ
|
||||
ンプルにも言えることです。伝統的な西洋音楽の作曲の考え方では、ゼロから作ること
|
||||
が創造の絶対であり、音を選ぶ行為は消費とみなさされていました。しかし、テクノロ
|
||||
ジーの発展により、情報やデータのコストが大幅に下がり、時代は大きく変化していま
|
||||
す。かつてプリセットを選ぶ行為が創造的でないとされた背景には、選択肢の限られた
|
||||
環境の中で、妥協を強いられるアレンジが生じがちだったという事情もあるでしょう。
|
||||
SC-88Proの時代のコンピューターミュージックは確かに音色の自由はほとんどなく、妥
|
||||
協して選ぶ音色で作る音楽にはたして創造性などあるのか疑問がありました。誰かと音
|
||||
色が似てしまう問題もありましたし、理想的な音色を見つけること自体困難でした。し
|
||||
かし、現在ではソフトシンセのプリセット数はOmnisphereに代表されるように全てをチ
|
||||
ェックするだけでも何年もかかってしまいそうなくらい膨大であり、またランダマイズ
|
||||
やAIを活用すれば、瞬時に無数の新たな音色の生成も可能になっています。作曲家はそ
|
||||
の中から最適なものを選ぶことに集中でき、使えない音色は即座に切り捨て、次々に新
|
||||
しい音を試すことが可能です。これは十分に創造的なプロセスではないでしょうか？有
|
||||
り余る選択肢はもはや作曲上の妥協を無用なものにしています。
|
||||
|
||||
Selection vs Creation
|
||||
選択と創作
|
||||
|
||||
British contemporary composer Michael Finnissy (1946-) has a unique perspective
|
||||
on the act of composition. He argues that composition is not an act of creating
|
||||
something entirely from scratch, but rather a process of reconstructing and
|
||||
editing musical experiences that have accumulated in the mind.
|
||||
Finnissy takes a critical approach to traditional musical language,
|
||||
particularly in his "Transcriptions" series, where he dissects and reconstructs
|
||||
great works of classical music in search of new modes of expression. His work
|
||||
is not mere arrangement but an in-depth exploration of the structures and
|
||||
contexts embedded in the original compositions, examining how they can be
|
||||
reinterpreted within the framework of contemporary music. This approach
|
||||
reflects his keen interest in history, society, and the abstract elements of
|
||||
music, emphasizing structure and organization rather than simply conveying
|
||||
emotions or meaning.
|
||||
His creative process is not about consciously building up sounds but rather
|
||||
filtering and editing past musical experiences in his mind before outputting
|
||||
them as notation or performance. This concept forms the foundation of his
|
||||
"Transcriptions" series, which seeks to illuminate the temporal and cultural
|
||||
continuity of music by reinterpreting historical works and presenting them in a
|
||||
new light.
|
||||
|
||||
If, as Finnissy suggests, composition is not about creating something from
|
||||
nothing but rather transcribing the music already present in the mind into the
|
||||
real world, then a similar perspective could be applied to sound design.
|
||||
Instead of synthesizing sounds entirely from scratch, one might explore
|
||||
existing presets, selecting and modifying them to align with their artistic
|
||||
vision. The creative process in music, then, is not merely about "invention"
|
||||
but rather a continuous cycle of "selection" and "reconstruction"—a concept
|
||||
that resonates deeply with Finnissy’s compositional philosophy.
|
||||
|
||||
イギリスの現代音楽作曲家、マイケル・フィニスィー Michael Finnissy (1946 -)は作
|
||||
曲という行為について独自の視点を持っています。彼は、作曲とは完全にゼロから創造
|
||||
する行為ではなく、頭の中に蓄積された音楽的経験を再構成し、編集するプロセスであ
|
||||
ると述べています。
|
||||
伝統的な音楽語法に対して批評的な視点を持ち、特に彼の「トランスクリプション」シ
|
||||
リーズにおいては、過去のクラシック音楽の偉大な作品を解体し、再構築することで、
|
||||
新たな表現を探求しています。彼は単なる編曲ではなく、原曲に内在する構造や文脈を
|
||||
深く掘り下げ、現代の音楽的枠組みの中でどのように再表現できるかに焦点を当ててい
|
||||
ます。このアプローチには、歴史や社会との関係、音楽の抽象的な側面に対する鋭い探
|
||||
究心が反映されており、フィニスィーの作品は、単なる感情表現を超えて、音楽の構造
|
||||
や組織そのものに光を当てるものとなっています。
|
||||
彼の創作プロセスは、意識的に音を積み上げるというよりも、過去の音楽的経験が脳内
|
||||
でフィルタリングされ、編集され、それが楽譜や演奏としてアウトプットされる過程で
|
||||
あると考えられます。この考え方は、彼の「トランスクリプション」シリーズの根底に
|
||||
もあるもので、歴史的な作品を再解釈し、新たな形で提示することによって、音楽の持
|
||||
つ時間的・文化的な連続性を浮かび上がらせる試みでもあります。
|
||||
|
||||
もしフィニスィーが述べるように、作曲がゼロからの創造ではなく、既に頭の中に存在
|
||||
している音楽を現実世界へ転写する行為なのだとすれば、音色の創造に関しても同様の
|
||||
視点が持てるかもしれません。すなわち、シンセサイザーの音色を一から作るのではな
|
||||
く、既存のプリセットの中から適切なものを探し出し、それを加工して自分の表現に適
|
||||
した音へと変化させていくプロセスもまた、創造的な行為と捉えることができるでしょ
|
||||
う。音楽における創造とは、単なる「発明」ではなく、「選択」と「再構築」の連続で
|
||||
あり、それこそがフィニスィーの作曲観と共鳴する部分なのかもしれません。
|
||||
|
||||
Curation vs Production
|
||||
キュレーションと制作
|
||||
|
||||
Art critic Boris Groys, in his book "Art Power" (2008), redefines the role of
|
||||
the artist in contemporary art, emphasizing the dual aspects of creation and
|
||||
selection. According to him, what is important in contemporary art is not only
|
||||
the creation of something new but also the act of selecting existing things and
|
||||
presenting them in a new context. This act of selection, as “art power,” holds
|
||||
the ability to generate cultural and social meaning in addition to physical
|
||||
creativity.
|
||||
He states that a key feature of contemporary art is the re-contextualization of
|
||||
existing cultural phenomena and materials. Artists do not create new things;
|
||||
rather, they select elements that already exist in society and culture (such as
|
||||
other people's works or historical symbols), and through their selection, they
|
||||
assign new meanings. In doing so, art goes beyond mere visual expression and
|
||||
becomes a space for social, political, and philosophical dialogue.
|
||||
This approach is especially important when understanding art from a postmodern
|
||||
perspective. By selecting and presenting existing things, artists can challenge
|
||||
past cultural and historical contexts and add new perspectives to them. Groys
|
||||
views artists not as “creators” but as cultural “curators,” believing that the
|
||||
act of selection itself is a crucial process that determines the value of an
|
||||
artwork. Furthermore, as contemporary art is consumed like other cultural
|
||||
industries, the act of selection by the artist generates the value of the
|
||||
artwork. Through this selection, artists provide the audience with new
|
||||
perspectives and can change the way things are perceived.
|
||||
|
||||
In "Art Power", he also draws attention to Marcel Duchamp's “readymades,”
|
||||
further emphasizing the creative role of selection in art. Duchamp's readymade
|
||||
works, such as *Fountain*, redefined the meaning and value of art by presenting
|
||||
everyday objects as art. Through this act, art was no longer about creation but
|
||||
about selecting and re-presenting existing things to generate new meanings.
|
||||
He argues that the act of selection in art is, in fact, a creative process, and
|
||||
he extends this to the curation activities of museums and galleries. Selecting
|
||||
existing objects and presenting them as art is not simply a reproduction; it is
|
||||
a creative act in which new meanings are constructed through the act of
|
||||
selection. The way museums and galleries choose and arrange works greatly
|
||||
changes the message and interpretation given to the audience, and this
|
||||
“creativity of selection” plays a vital role in maximizing the essence of the
|
||||
artwork.
|
||||
|
||||
美術批評家のボリス・グロイスは、著書『Art Power』（2008）の中で現代アートにおけ
|
||||
るアーティストの役割を再定義し、創造と選択の二重の側面を強調しています。彼によ
|
||||
れば、現代アートにおいて重要なのは、単に新しいものを創造することだけでなく、す
|
||||
でに存在するものを選び取り、それを新たな文脈で提示することです。この選択の行為
|
||||
が、「アートの力」として、物理的な創造力に加えて文化的・社会的意味を生み出す力
|
||||
を持つのです。
|
||||
彼は、アーティストが既存の文化的事象や素材を再コンテクスト化することが現代アー
|
||||
トの特徴であると述べています。アーティストは、新しいものを創り出すのではなく、
|
||||
社会や文化にすでに存在しているもの（例えば、他者の作品や歴史的象徴）を選び、そ
|
||||
の選択を通じて新しい意味を付与します。これにより、アートは単なる視覚的表現を超
|
||||
えて、社会的、政治的、哲学的な対話の場となり得るのです。
|
||||
このアプローチは、特にポストモダン的な視点からアートを理解する上で重要です。ア
|
||||
ーティストが既存のものを選び、それを提示することで、過去の文化的・歴史的文脈を
|
||||
問い直し、そこに新たな視点を加えることができます。グロイスは、アーティストを「
|
||||
創造者」ではなく、文化的「キュレーター」として捉えており、アートにおける「選択
|
||||
」こそが、作品の価値を決定する重要なプロセスであると考えています。また、現代ア
|
||||
ートが他の文化産業と同様に消費される中で、アーティストが行う「選択」の行為その
|
||||
ものがアート作品の価値を生み出します。この選択を通じて、アーティストは観客に新
|
||||
たな視点を提供し、物事の見方を変えることができるのです。
|
||||
|
||||
彼は『Art Power』の中でマルセル・デュシャンの「レディメイド」に注目し、アートに
|
||||
おける「選択」の創造的な役割をさらに強調しています。デュシャンの『泉』をはじめ
|
||||
とするレディメイド作品は、日常的なオブジェクトをそのままアートとして展示するこ
|
||||
とで、アートの意味と価値を再定義しました。この行為によって、アートは単なる創造
|
||||
ではなく、既存のものを選び出し、再提示することで新たな意味を生み出す方法論が確
|
||||
立されました。
|
||||
彼は、は、アートにおける「選択」の行為が実際には創造的なプロセスであると論じ、
|
||||
これが美術館やギャラリーのキュレーション活動にも当てはまると指摘します。既存の
|
||||
オブジェクトを選び、それをアートとして展示する行為は、単なる再生産ではなく、選
|
||||
択を通じて新たな意味が構築される創造的な行為です。美術館やギャラリーがどの作品
|
||||
を展示するか、どのように配置するかによって、観客に与えるメッセージや解釈が大き
|
||||
く変わるため、この「選択の創造性」がアート作品の本質を最大化する重要な役割を果
|
||||
たしています。
|
||||
|
||||
Conclusion
|
||||
まとめ
|
||||
|
||||
[DSC07143W]
|
||||
|
||||
As AI technology rapidly advances, it is important to reconsider what
|
||||
creativity truly means. For those with experience in sound creation, the
|
||||
process of crafting sound from scratch often feels like the most creative
|
||||
aspect. However, this raises the question: does spending time and energy
|
||||
directly correlate with creativity? If the necessary sound is achieved, does it
|
||||
really matter whether we "create" or "select" the sound? I believe that if the
|
||||
process of selection reflects intention and emotion, it can still be a deeply
|
||||
creative act.
|
||||
|
||||
There is also a difference in how creativity is perceived by sound designers,
|
||||
whose goal is to create sounds, and by composers and performers, whose goal is
|
||||
to create music. Some find joy in making their own sounds, while others find
|
||||
value in expanding their expressive range by selecting sounds created by
|
||||
others. There is appeal in both the DIY approach to music and in collaborating
|
||||
on a large scale to create a work.
|
||||
|
||||
Creativity cannot be defined in a single way, and I believe its degree and form
|
||||
vary greatly. For example, I develop and release original software synthesizers
|
||||
for anyone to use. From the perspective of someone who creates synthesizers, I
|
||||
don’t see a significant difference between crafting one’s own sounds and
|
||||
selecting presets made by others. Both actions take place within the framework
|
||||
of a synthesizer designed by someone else, meaning that the characteristics of
|
||||
the sound ultimately fall within the scope of the designer’s intentions.
|
||||
Moreover, I feel that the impact of structuring sounds into music is far
|
||||
greater than that of simply designing sounds. There are countless composers who
|
||||
can create more compelling music than I can, even when using the synthesizers
|
||||
and presets I have developed.
|
||||
|
||||
If we broaden our perspective, the person who designs the synthesizer has more
|
||||
freedom to create sound than the person who creates presets. Similarly, the
|
||||
creators of programming languages, the developers of computers, and, on the
|
||||
grandest scale, those who created the Earth or the universe may have
|
||||
immeasurable creative freedom. Our creativity is often shaped within
|
||||
constraints, and its boundaries are expanded by others and by technology.
|
||||
|
||||
There is a perspective that the timbre in electronic music is equivalent to the
|
||||
act of playing an instrument. If you think of it that way, just as there are
|
||||
composers who are involved in performance and others who completely outsource
|
||||
it, there are composers who create their own timbres and those who don't create
|
||||
any themselves. This might not seem unusual.
|
||||
|
||||
As I mentioned earlier, I enjoy both creating synthesizer sounds from scratch
|
||||
and showing respect for the sound designers by using their presets without
|
||||
modification. I take pleasure in incorporating these presets into my music
|
||||
through creative application and arrangement. Just as it feels natural to use
|
||||
acoustic instruments like a violin without modifying them for personal
|
||||
expression, it feels equally natural to use iconic synthesizer presets like
|
||||
Korg M1’s 'Universe' or Roland D-50’s 'Fantasia' as they are, respecting their
|
||||
historical value and enriching my music with creative arrangements.
|
||||
|
||||
If I were to modify these presets, the effect of referencing a sound that
|
||||
anyone has heard before would be lost, and it could end up feeling like
|
||||
nostalgic retro-synth use rather than a creative act. I find it creatively
|
||||
stimulating to adopt sounds that defined the 80s and 90s and apply them to
|
||||
genres that didn’t exist back then, such as Wave or Neo Grime. In doing so, I
|
||||
explore the unknown potential of these sounds. Even electronic sounds, when
|
||||
they are masterpieces, may transcend time, much like how the sound of the piano
|
||||
remains timeless in 2025.
|
||||
|
||||
AI技術が急速に進化する中、創造性とは何かを再考することが重要です。音を作る経験
|
||||
がある人にとって、音を自分で作り上げる過程こそがクリエイティブだと感じることが
|
||||
多いでしょう。しかし、時間と体力を費やすことが創造性に直結するのか？という疑問
|
||||
も生じます。
|
||||
必要な音が得られれば、音色を「作る」か「選ぶ」かの違いは重要なのでしょうか。私
|
||||
は、選ぶ過程にも意図や感情が反映されるなら、それは十分にクリエイティブな行為だ
|
||||
と考えます。
|
||||
|
||||
また、音色を作ることが目的のサウンドデザイナーと、音楽を作ることが目的の作曲家
|
||||
や演奏家との創造性の捉え方の違います。自分で音を作る喜びを感じる人もいれば、他
|
||||
者の音を選ぶことで表現の幅を広げる価値を見出す人もいます。DIYで音楽全般に関与す
|
||||
る魅力と、大規模な協業で作品を作る魅力もあります。
|
||||
|
||||
創造性とは一概に定義できるものではなく、その程度や形態には多様性があると私は考
|
||||
えます。たとえば、私はオリジナルのソフトウェアシンセサイザーを作って誰もが使え
|
||||
るようにリリースしています。シンセサイザーを作った人間の観点から考えると、それ
|
||||
に対する音色を自分で作ることと、別の誰かが作った音色を選んで使うことには大きな
|
||||
違いがあるようには感じません。それはどちらも他者が設計したシンセサイザーという
|
||||
枠組みの中で行われており、最終的に音の特性は設計者の範疇に収まっているからです
|
||||
し、音を作ることよりもはるかにそれを音楽として構成する人の影響の方が大きいと感
|
||||
じています。私が作ったシンセサイザーやプリセットを使って私よりも魅力的な音楽を
|
||||
作ることができる作曲家はごまんと存在します。
|
||||
|
||||
視点を広げると、プリセットを作った人以上にシンセサイザーを設計した人は自由に音
|
||||
を作ることができるでしょうし、プログラミング言語を作った人、さらにはコンピュー
|
||||
ターを開発した人、そして最も壮大なスケールでは、この地球や宇宙を創造した存在た
|
||||
ちの創造性には計り知れない自由度があるのではないかとも思えます。
|
||||
私たちの創造性の範囲は、多くの場合制約の中で形作られ、他者や他の技術によってそ
|
||||
の枠を広げられているということです。
|
||||
|
||||
電子音楽の音色は楽器の演奏に相当するという考え方もあります。そう考えれば自ら演
|
||||
奏にも携わる作曲科もいれば完全に演奏はアウトソースする作曲家もいるように、自ら
|
||||
音色を作る作曲家もいれば自分では一切作らない作曲家もいることは不思議には感じな
|
||||
くなるかもしれません。
|
||||
|
||||
最初に述べたように私は自分でシンセサイザーの音色を1から作ることもあれば、そのサ
|
||||
ウンドを作ったサウンドデザイナーに敬意を表して、無加工でプリセットを利用し、そ
|
||||
の使い方やアレンジの工夫で楽曲に組み込むことも楽しんでいます。自分の音楽表現の
|
||||
ためであってもヴァイオリンのようなアコースティック楽器は改造せずに使うことが自
|
||||
然であるように、シンセサイザーにおいても、Korg M1の『Universe』やRoland D-50の
|
||||
『Fantasia』などの象徴的なプリセットはエディットせずそのまま用い、音色が持つ歴
|
||||
史的な価値を尊重しながらアレンジや使い方の工夫で音楽を彩っています。
|
||||
プリセットに手を加えてしまうと、過去にどこかで聴いたことがある音色を引用すると
|
||||
いう効果は失われてしまい、ただ使いにくいレトロなシンセサイザーを無理やり使って
|
||||
いるだけの懐古主義になってしまうかもしれません。 80年代や90年代の時代を象徴した
|
||||
音色を当時存在しなかったジャンルであるWaveやNeo Grimeのような音楽に採用して、そ
|
||||
の音色が潜在的に持っている未知の可能性を探ることもまた創造的に感じています。
|
||||
電子音であっても名作プリセットは時代を超えてずっと語り継がれていくのかもしれま
|
||||
せん。 2025年に未だピアノの音色が古くなっていないように。
|
||||
|
||||
Reference
|
||||
|
||||
Boris Groys. Art Power. MIT Press [8]https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262518680/
|
||||
art-power/
|
||||
|
||||
Curtis Roads. The Computer Music Tutorial. MIT Press [9]https://
|
||||
mitpress.mit.edu/9780262680820/the-computer-music-tutorial/
|
||||
|
||||
Charles Dodge. Computer Music: Synthesis, Composition, and Performance.
|
||||
Schirmer Books [10]https://amzn.to/463ehCu
|
||||
|
||||
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
|
||||
|
||||
Topic
|
||||
|
||||
[11]Study / 研究, 習作, 論考 [12]
|
||||
|
||||
Study / 研究, 習作, 論考
|
||||
|
||||
[13]Diversity and Discrimination / 多様性と差別 [14]
|
||||
|
||||
Diversity and Discrimination / 多様性と差別
|
||||
|
||||
[15]Presets & Originality [16]
|
||||
|
||||
Presets & Originality
|
||||
|
||||
[17]Generation & Composition / Generation & Composition [18]
|
||||
|
||||
Generation & Composition / 生成と作曲
|
||||
|
||||
[19]Noise / ノイズ [20]
|
||||
|
||||
Noise / ノイズ
|
||||
|
||||
[21]Max/MSP / マックスエムエスピー [22]
|
||||
|
||||
Max/MSP / マックスエムエスピー
|
||||
|
||||
[23]Phasing / フェイジング [24]
|
||||
|
||||
Phasing / フェイジング
|
||||
|
||||
[25]Modular Synthe / モジュラーシンセ [26]
|
||||
|
||||
Modular Synthe / モジュラーシンセ
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
References:
|
||||
|
||||
[1] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/preset.html#
|
||||
[2] https://www.aiynzahev-sounds.com/products/jp-8000-eternal
|
||||
[3] https://yamahablackboxes.com/collection/yamaha-dx7-synthesizer/patches/
|
||||
[4] https://cdm.link/get-original-dx7-patches-made-brian-eno-1987/
|
||||
[5] https://www.thisdx7cartdoesnotexist.com/
|
||||
[6] https://www.roland.com/global/promos/d-50_30th_anniversary/
|
||||
[7] https://www.spectrasonics.net/company/other/ep-roland.php?id=9
|
||||
[8] https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262518680/art-power/
|
||||
[9] https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262680820/the-computer-music-tutorial/
|
||||
[10] https://amzn.to/463ehCu
|
||||
[11] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/index.html
|
||||
[12] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/index.html
|
||||
[13] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/diversity-discrimination.html
|
||||
[14] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/diversity-discrimination.html
|
||||
[15] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/preset.html.html
|
||||
[16] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/preset.html
|
||||
[17] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/algorithmiccomposition.html
|
||||
[18] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/algorithmiccomposition.html
|
||||
[19] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/noise.html
|
||||
[20] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/noise.html
|
||||
[21] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/maxmsp.html
|
||||
[22] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/maxmsp.html
|
||||
[23] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/phasing.html
|
||||
[24] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/phasing.html
|
||||
[25] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/modularsynth.html
|
||||
[26] https://akihikomatsumoto.com/study/modularsynth.html
|
||||
98
static/archive/anniemueller-com-pehjf6.txt
Normal file
98
static/archive/anniemueller-com-pehjf6.txt
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
|
||||
[1] annie's blog
|
||||
|
||||
[2]annie's blog
|
||||
|
||||
[3]👋 Hello! [4]✍️ Guestbook [5]👊 Blog [6]🫶 Micro [7]🤌 Slash
|
||||
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
|
||||
|
||||
Tomorrow might feel better
|
||||
|
||||
A screenshot showing a scene from Broadchurch. Hardy (David Tennant) is asking
|
||||
Miller (Olivia Colman): "How d'you do it, Miller, the whole single parent
|
||||
thing?" Miller's back is to us. Hardy's face looks strained. A scene from
|
||||
Broadchurch showing Miller (Olivia Colman) answering Hardy's question. Her face
|
||||
is toward us, lit by the sun. She looks resigned and self-deprecating as she
|
||||
says, "By constantly absorbing feelings of failure, guilt and shame."
|
||||
|
||||
Sometimes you just don’t get to feel good about things.
|
||||
|
||||
Anyway a good rule I read somewhere long ago is something like Never trust how
|
||||
you feel about your life after 9pm.
|
||||
|
||||
I’ve found it helpful to expand the rule a bit.
|
||||
|
||||
Never trust how you feel about your entire life….
|
||||
|
||||
• when you’re hungry or have eaten only crap lately.
|
||||
|
||||
• when you’re not getting enough sleep.
|
||||
|
||||
• when you’re in pain.
|
||||
|
||||
• when you just made a mistake.
|
||||
|
||||
• when something big is happening especially if it’s a bad or scary big
|
||||
thing.
|
||||
|
||||
• when you’re in an argument or fresh out of one.
|
||||
|
||||
• when you haven’t seen the sun in 24+ hours.
|
||||
|
||||
• when you’ve just gotten bad news.
|
||||
|
||||
There are many more situations where this advice could be helpful.
|
||||
|
||||
When something is off, imbalanced, scary, upsetting in some part of your life,
|
||||
the rest of your life will tilt toward that angle. Or at least will feel like
|
||||
it does.
|
||||
|
||||
Remembering this helps me to not take my own feelings so seriously.
|
||||
|
||||
I hope today is a good day for how you feel about your life, but if it’s not,
|
||||
tomorrow might be better.
|
||||
|
||||
For the record, I feel good about my life right now, this very minute. I wrote
|
||||
part of this post a few days ago and another part of it a few years ago. I
|
||||
survived both the years and the days. You will, too.
|
||||
|
||||
there is a light somewhere.
|
||||
it may not be much light but
|
||||
it beats the darkness.
|
||||
be on the watch.
|
||||
|
||||
—Charles Bukowski, The Laughing Heart
|
||||
|
||||
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
|
||||
April 7, 2025
|
||||
[8]
|
||||
Reply by email
|
||||
[9]
|
||||
Subscribe via RSS
|
||||
[10]
|
||||
Back to all blog posts
|
||||
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
|
||||
|
||||
👋 [11]email | [12]micro.blog | [13]mastodon | [14]omg.lol 💃
|
||||
|
||||
An image with filename: WrittenByAHuman_08.png An image with filename:
|
||||
CoffeePowered_03.png
|
||||
|
||||
[15]PIKA
|
||||
|
||||
References:
|
||||
|
||||
[1] https://anniemueller.com/
|
||||
[2] https://anniemueller.com/
|
||||
[3] https://annie.omg.lol/
|
||||
[4] https://anniemueller.com/guestbook
|
||||
[5] https://anniemueller.com/posts
|
||||
[6] https://annie.micro.blog/
|
||||
[7] https://anniemueller.com/slash
|
||||
[8] mailto:annie@omg.lol?subject=Re%3A%20Tomorrow%20might%20feel%20better
|
||||
[9] https://anniemueller.com/posts_feed
|
||||
[10] https://anniemueller.com/posts
|
||||
[11] mailto:annie@omg.lol
|
||||
[12] https://micro.blog/Annie
|
||||
[13] https://social.lol/@annie
|
||||
[14] https://annie.omg.lol/
|
||||
[15] https://pika.page/?utm_source=pika_blog&utm_medium=pika_footer_branding
|
||||
433
static/archive/hedgehogreview-com-5syd8y.txt
Normal file
433
static/archive/hedgehogreview-com-5syd8y.txt
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,433 @@
|
||||
IASC
|
||||
|
||||
[1]Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture
|
||||
|
||||
• [2]About
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• [3]Research
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• [4]Scholars
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• [5]News & Events
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• [6]Support Our Work
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[7]Hedgehog [8]The Hedghog Review -- Critical Reflections on Contemporary
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Culture
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• [9]Issues
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• [10]Browse
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• [11]Web Features
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• [20]Issues
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• [21]Browse
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• [22]Web Features
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• [23]About
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• [24]Contact
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• [25]
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• [26]Login
|
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• [27] Order
|
||||
|
||||
[28]THR Web Features / June 11, 2024
|
||||
|
||||
AI as Self-Erasure
|
||||
|
||||
Humanity’s will to disappear is being installed in the omni-operating system.
|
||||
|
||||
[29]Matthew B. Crawford
|
||||
|
||||
( Piranka/iStock.)
|
||||
[30] THR Web Features
|
||||
|
||||
[31]Matthew B. Crawford
|
||||
|
||||
Matthew B. Crawford writes the Substack [32]Archedelia and is a senior fellow
|
||||
at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia.
|
||||
His books include Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road, The World
|
||||
Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction, and the
|
||||
best-selling Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work.
|
||||
|
||||
Categories
|
||||
|
||||
• [33]Essays
|
||||
|
||||
Related Topics
|
||||
|
||||
• [34]Work
|
||||
• [35]Technology
|
||||
• [36]Self
|
||||
|
||||
Share
|
||||
|
||||
• [37]
|
||||
• [38]
|
||||
• [39]
|
||||
• [40]
|
||||
|
||||
Elevated “deaths of despair” and declining birth rates in the West must be due
|
||||
to an array of factors, hard to tease apart. My hunch is that one of them is
|
||||
what the sociologist Richard Sennett called “the specter of uselessness.” He
|
||||
meant feeling redundant at work. But there is a deeper, existential version of
|
||||
this that may arise when the world feels already occupied, so there is no place
|
||||
for you to grow into and make your own.
|
||||
|
||||
In the normal course of human society, you are born into a culture that has
|
||||
prepared the way for you. It initiates you into its language and tells a story
|
||||
of where you came from. It is saturated with meaning due to a chain of
|
||||
begettings that reaches back in time, each generation of which started and grew
|
||||
through acts of love: at conception, and in the ongoing work of teaching,
|
||||
transmission and care. The world is welcoming, in other words. It was built by
|
||||
your ancestors, and they imagined you long before you arrived.^[41]11[42]xThe
|
||||
“owned space” spoken of by our Nietzscheans is an inherited space, not a
|
||||
conquest of individual will. They wondered what sort of work you might do,
|
||||
before you knew there is such a thing as work. Your parents may have recognized
|
||||
the echo of a sibling or a parent in your face as you sought the nipple. They
|
||||
smiled at you.
|
||||
|
||||
This sense of a world handed down in love is interrupted when the basic
|
||||
contours and possibilities of life appear to be ordered by impersonal forces.
|
||||
|
||||
Small Language Models
|
||||
|
||||
I was at a small dinner a few weeks ago in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Seated next
|
||||
to me was a man who related that his daughter had just gotten married. As the
|
||||
day approached, he had wanted to say some words at the reception, as is fitting
|
||||
for the father of the bride. It can be hard to come up with the right words for
|
||||
such an occasion, and he wanted to make a good showing. He said he gave a few
|
||||
prompts to ChatGPT, facts about her life, and sure enough it came back with a
|
||||
pretty good wedding toast. Maybe better than what he would have written. But in
|
||||
the end, he didn’t use it, and composed his own. This strikes me as telling,
|
||||
and the intuition that stopped him from deferring to AI is worth bringing to
|
||||
the surface.
|
||||
|
||||
To use the machine-generated speech would have been to absent himself from this
|
||||
significant moment in the life of his daughter, and in his own life. It would
|
||||
have been to not show up for her wedding, in some sense. I am reminded of a
|
||||
passage in Tocqueville where he noticed that America seemed to be on a
|
||||
trajectory that would have it erecting “an immense tutelary power” that wants
|
||||
only what is best for us, and is keen to “save [us] the trouble of living.”
|
||||
|
||||
In Aristotelian language, human “being” is an ergon, an activity or work that
|
||||
is distinctive of the peculiar sort of animals that we are, and in this the use
|
||||
of language is key. There have been rare cases of anatomically normal children
|
||||
who (whether by some monstrous crime or by circumstance) matured without human
|
||||
society, with no initiation into a language. They grew into feral creatures,
|
||||
resembling a human in form only.^[43]22[44]x “Just before dawn on January 9,
|
||||
1800, a mysterious creature emerged from a forest in southern France. Although
|
||||
he was human in form and walked upright, his habits were those of a young male
|
||||
animal. He was wearing only a tattered shirt, but did not seem troubled by the
|
||||
cold. Showing no modesty about his nakedness, he ate greedily, seizing roasted
|
||||
potatoes from a hot fire. He seemed to have no language skills, only grunting
|
||||
occasionally.” From the [45]jacket of The Forbidden Experiment by Roger
|
||||
Shattuck.
|
||||
|
||||
LLMs (large language models such as ChatGPT) won’t return us to a
|
||||
pre-linguistic state, but they do point to a post-human one. In The Language
|
||||
Animal, Charles Taylor points out that in our use of language, “we are
|
||||
continuously responsive to rightness, and that is why we always recognize the
|
||||
relevance of a challenge that we have misspoken.” In other words, we care.
|
||||
|
||||
This is because, unlike an LLM or a parrot, things have significance for us,
|
||||
and we search for words that will do justice to this significance. For example,
|
||||
you try to find words that are apt for a wedding toast: ideally something both
|
||||
true and pleasing, maybe built around some anecdote that is emblematic of your
|
||||
relationship with your daughter, hopefully funny, with just the right
|
||||
touch—warm but not maudlin, suggesting the subtle and evolving currents of
|
||||
affection (and maybe conflict, too) between you over the years as she has grown
|
||||
into a woman. You don’t want to over-share, but you want to take some risks
|
||||
too, because you sense that showing faith in the love of your daughter, and in
|
||||
the goodwill of your guests (some of whom you have never met) will create the
|
||||
enlarged circle of intimacy and witness that you are hoping to realize on this
|
||||
occasion.
|
||||
|
||||
As the father sits with pen and paper, he strives to encompass in words the
|
||||
elusive truth of his daughter, as seen from the unique vantage of a father, in
|
||||
a way fitting for this pivotal moment in the progression of her life. He may
|
||||
find that through the effort of articulating this relationship, it is more
|
||||
fully revealed to him. As Taylor says, the “right word” discloses, “brings the
|
||||
phenomenon properly into view for the first time. Discovery and invention are
|
||||
two sides of the same coin; we devise an expression which allows what we are
|
||||
striving to encompass to appear.”
|
||||
|
||||
We do this also with respect to ourselves; we “self-articulate” as part of the
|
||||
lifelong process of bringing ourselves more fully into view‚ how I stand, the
|
||||
particular shape that various universal goods have taken in my own biography,
|
||||
and in my aspirations. This is a moving target. One may cringe at one’s younger
|
||||
self. What appeared to be an episode of courage at eighteen now strikes me as
|
||||
dickishness; what seemed righteous then looks self-righteous now as I fill in
|
||||
my own past with fresh articulations, corresponding to fresh intimations of the
|
||||
good, the fruit of a long process of acquiring depth as a human being. Or I may
|
||||
try to look back at my younger self with kindness, in the hope of overcoming
|
||||
regret about the decisions I made. We do all this with words, in our internal
|
||||
monologues.
|
||||
|
||||
What would it mean, then, to outsource a wedding toast? To use Heidegger’s
|
||||
language, some entity has “leaped in” on my behalf and disburdened me of the
|
||||
task of being human. For Heidegger, this entity is “das Man,” an anonymized
|
||||
other that stands in for me, very much like Kierkegaard’s “the Public.” It is a
|
||||
generalized consciousness—think of it as the geist of large language models.
|
||||
|
||||
LLMs are built on enormous data sets—essentially, all language that is
|
||||
machine-scrapable from the Internet. They are tasked with answering the
|
||||
question, “given the previous string of words, what word is most likely to
|
||||
occur next?” They thus represent what the philosopher Talbot Brewer recently
|
||||
referred to as “the statistical center of gravity” of all language (and I am
|
||||
following Brewer’s lead in viewing LLMs through the lens of Taylor’s account of
|
||||
language). Or rather, all language that is on the Internet. This includes the
|
||||
great literature of the past, of course. But it includes a whole lot more of
|
||||
the present: marketing-speak, what passes for journalism, the blather produced
|
||||
by all who suffer from PowerPoint brain. But put aside the impoverished quality
|
||||
of the language that these LLMs are being trained on. If we accept that the
|
||||
challenge of articulating life in the first person, as it unfolds, is central
|
||||
to human beings, then to allow an AI to do this on our behalf suggests
|
||||
self-erasure of the human.
|
||||
|
||||
In a presentation in Charlottesville in April that is yet unpublished, at
|
||||
University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, Brewer
|
||||
referred to “degenerative AI.” Because the new AIs are language machines, they
|
||||
are “aimed right at our essence.” Brewer is not himself a Christian, but he
|
||||
finds Christian terms apt for thinking about the problem: We are created in the
|
||||
image and likeness of God, who is the Word.
|
||||
|
||||
Talking to an Anonymity
|
||||
|
||||
Self-erasure through absorption into a mass (as distinct from a community) is
|
||||
not a problem created by LLMs; it was noticed by Heidegger and Kierkegaard, and
|
||||
by Tocqueville before them. Around the turn of the millennium, we were
|
||||
fascinated with “the wisdom of crowds” and the generative possibilities of the
|
||||
hive mind. We were told that there is a superior global intelligence arising in
|
||||
the Web itself. This collective mind is more meta, more synoptic and synthetic,
|
||||
than any one of us, and aren’t these the defining features of intelligence?
|
||||
|
||||
[46]Writing about the Web in 2006, Jaron Lanier said that “In the last year or
|
||||
two the trend has been to remove the scent of people, so as to come as close as
|
||||
possible to simulating the appearance of content emerging out of the Web as if
|
||||
it were speaking to us as a supernatural oracle.” He was referring to
|
||||
“consensus Web filters” that assemble material from other sites that are
|
||||
themselves aggregators of other sites. “We are now reading what a collectivity
|
||||
algorithm derives from what other collectivity algorithms derived from what
|
||||
collectives chose from what a population of mostly amateur writers wrote
|
||||
anonymously.”
|
||||
|
||||
Lanier points out that these developments aren’t confined to online culture.
|
||||
The elevation of the collective through the fetish of aggregation is “having a
|
||||
profound influence on how decisions are made in America,” in government
|
||||
agencies, corporate planning departments, and universities. He reports that, as
|
||||
a consultant, he used to be asked to “test an idea or propose a new one to
|
||||
solve a problem. In the last couple years I’ve been asked to work quite
|
||||
differently. You might find me and the other consultants filling out survey
|
||||
forms or tweaking edits to a collective essay.”
|
||||
|
||||
Lanier suggests there are institutional reasons for the appeal of collectivism
|
||||
in large organizations: “If the principle is correct, then individuals should
|
||||
not be required to take on risks or responsibilities.” This is especially
|
||||
attractive given that we live in times of tremendous uncertainties coupled with
|
||||
infinite liability phobia, and we must function within institutions that are
|
||||
loyal to no executive, much less to any lower-level member. Every individual
|
||||
who is afraid to say the wrong thing within his or her organization is safer
|
||||
when hiding behind a wiki or some other Meta aggregation ritual.
|
||||
|
||||
In his own participation in such rituals, Lanier reports that “what I’ve seen
|
||||
is a loss of insight and subtlety, a disregard for the nuances of considered
|
||||
opinions, and an increased tendency to enshrine the official or normative
|
||||
beliefs of an institution.”
|
||||
|
||||
At the same gathering in Charlottesville where Tal Brewer spoke of
|
||||
“degenerative AI,” sociologist Joseph E. Davis pointed out that AI is rushing
|
||||
into domains that have already been vacated of the full exercise of human
|
||||
judgment, making the substitution less obviously a degradation. Education is
|
||||
conceived as the mere exchange of information, unconditioned by relations of
|
||||
authority and care between teacher and student. The practice of medicine has
|
||||
been partly reduced to following guidelines that claim to advance
|
||||
“evidence-based medicine” (but with outcomes that are often worse than those
|
||||
produced by the judgments of experienced practitioners).^[47]33[48]xSee Justin
|
||||
Mutter, “A New Stranger at the Bedside: Industrial Quality Management and the
|
||||
Erosion of Clinical Judgment in American Medicine” for an [49]account of the
|
||||
exponential growth of guidelines that medical practitioners must follow, and
|
||||
its effect on care. Essentially, doctors have been proletarianized and are
|
||||
themselves the object of minute surveillance. Their incentives are to follow
|
||||
guidelines even when they know the outcome will not be good. Dating apps
|
||||
render the process of selecting a mate as something machine-optimizable through
|
||||
search criteria and “cross-platform integration with social media accounts” (or
|
||||
something like that).
|
||||
|
||||
But let us go back further yet, before the rise of the Web, to see how AI
|
||||
expresses (and advances) a more general tendency of the democratic social
|
||||
condition. Writing in the 1840s, Kierkegaard noticed something significant
|
||||
going on with the rise of the newspaper:
|
||||
|
||||
Nowadays one can talk with anyone, and it must be admitted that people’s
|
||||
opinions are exceedingly sensible, yet the conversation leaves one with the
|
||||
impression of having talked to an anonymity.... Our judgments are “so
|
||||
objective, so all-inclusive, that it is a matter of complete indifference
|
||||
who expresses them.... In Germany they even have phrase books for the use
|
||||
of lovers, and it will end with lovers sitting together talking
|
||||
anonymously. (Kierkegaard, The Present Age)
|
||||
|
||||
The German lovers “go meta,” as we would put it today, which is a kind of
|
||||
effacing of one’s own perspective as an interested party, as someone involved.
|
||||
We instead think of ourselves as representatives of a general Public.
|
||||
|
||||
[W]e think over the relationships of life in a higher relationship till in
|
||||
the end the whole generation has become a representation, who
|
||||
represent...it is difficult to say whom; and who think about these
|
||||
relationships...for whose sake it is not easy to discover. The disobedient
|
||||
youth is no longer in fear of his schoolmaster—the relation is rather one
|
||||
of indifference in which schoolmaster and pupil discuss how a good school
|
||||
should be run. To go to school no longer means to be in fear of the master,
|
||||
or merely to learn, but rather implies being interested in the problem of
|
||||
education. (Kierkegaard, The Present Age)
|
||||
|
||||
Kierkegaard here connects the process of becoming a third party to oneself to
|
||||
the process of democratic leveling. This has the effect of effacing real human
|
||||
connection.
|
||||
|
||||
In the end, the whole age becomes a committee. A father no longer curses
|
||||
his son in anger, using all his parental authority, nor does the son defy
|
||||
his father, a conflict which might end in the inwardness of forgiveness; on
|
||||
the contrary, their relationship is irreproachable, for it is really in
|
||||
process of ceasing to exist... (Kierkegaard, The Present Age)
|
||||
|
||||
For Kierkegaard, differentiating relations of authority are the incubators of
|
||||
genuine attachments, and these in turn make possible moments of rebellion. It
|
||||
is through the attachments and the rebellions both that we become individuals.
|
||||
Fake egalitarianism provides an excuse—no, a principle!—for shrinking from this
|
||||
task. As representatives of a general Public, there is no complementarity
|
||||
between us, no differentiation and dependence, but instead a colorless cohesion
|
||||
of interchangeable, autonomous subjects. Liberal public culture is a culture of
|
||||
polite separation.
|
||||
|
||||
This mood of interchangeability is likely to deepen as AI saturates the world
|
||||
and we are tempted to let it stand in for our own subjectivity. But, like that
|
||||
father at his daughter’s wedding, we are still free to refuse it.
|
||||
|
||||
This essay first appeared on Matthew Crawford’s [50]Archedelia Substack.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[minihog-ri]
|
||||
|
||||
Sign up for our newsletter
|
||||
|
||||
Email Address * [51][ ]
|
||||
[52][ ]
|
||||
Sign Up
|
||||
[54] Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture [55] University of Virginia
|
||||
|
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Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture
|
||||
|
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• [56]About
|
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|
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|
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• [59]News & Events
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• [60]Contact IASC
|
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|
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|
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• [68]Order
|
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Join the Conversation
|
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|
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• [69]
|
||||
• [70]
|
||||
|
||||
[71]Support our work
|
||||
|
||||
© 2025 Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture
|
||||
|
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|
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|
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References:
|
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|
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|
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[7] https://hedgehogreview.com/
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[9] https://hedgehogreview.com/issues
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[10] https://hedgehogreview.com/topics
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[11] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features
|
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[12] https://hedgehogreview.com/about
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[13] https://hedgehogreview.com/contact
|
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[14] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
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[15] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
||||
[17] https://hedgehogreview.com/order
|
||||
[19] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
||||
[20] https://hedgehogreview.com/issues
|
||||
[21] https://hedgehogreview.com/topics
|
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[22] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features
|
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[23] https://hedgehogreview.com/about
|
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[24] https://hedgehogreview.com/contact
|
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[25] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
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[26] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
||||
[27] https://hedgehogreview.com/order
|
||||
[28] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr
|
||||
[29] https://hedgehogreview.com/contributors/matthew-b-crawford
|
||||
[30] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr
|
||||
[31] https://hedgehogreview.com/contributors/matthew-b-crawford
|
||||
[32] https://mcrawford.substack.com/
|
||||
[33] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/categories/essays
|
||||
[34] https://hedgehogreview.com/topics/work
|
||||
[35] https://hedgehogreview.com/topics/technology
|
||||
[36] https://hedgehogreview.com/topics/self
|
||||
[37] https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fhedgehogreview.com%2Fweb-features%2Fthr%2Fposts%2Fai-as-self-erasure
|
||||
[38] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet/?text=AI%20as%20Self-Erasure&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhedgehogreview.com%2Fweb-features%2Fthr%2Fposts%2Fai-as-self-erasure&via=hedgehogreview
|
||||
[39] http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhedgehogreview.com%2Fweb-features%2Fthr%2Fposts%2Fai-as-self-erasure&title=AI%20as%20Self-Erasure
|
||||
[40] javascript:window.print();
|
||||
[41] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
||||
[42] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
||||
[43] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
||||
[44] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
||||
[45] https://books.google.com/books?id=9COPTtX16IIC&q=%22forbidden+experiment%22&pg=PP1
|
||||
[46] https://www.edge.org/conversation/jaron_lanier-digital-maoism-the-hazards-of-the-new-online-collectivism?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
|
||||
[47] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
||||
[48] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
||||
[49] https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/748875
|
||||
[50] https://mcrawford.substack.com/?utm_source=global-search
|
||||
[54] https://iasculture.org/
|
||||
[55] http://www.virginia.edu/
|
||||
[56] http://iasculture.org/about
|
||||
[57] http://iasculture.org/research
|
||||
[58] http://iasculture.org/scholars
|
||||
[59] http://iasculture.org/events
|
||||
[60] http://iasculture.org/contact
|
||||
[61] https://hedgehogreview.com/issues
|
||||
[62] https://hedgehogreview.com/topics
|
||||
[63] https://hedgehogreview.com/blog
|
||||
[64] https://hedgehogreview.com/about
|
||||
[65] https://hedgehogreview.com/contact
|
||||
[66] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
||||
[67] https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/ai-as-self-erasure#
|
||||
[68] https://hedgehogreview.com/order
|
||||
[69] https://facebook.com/TheHedgehogReview
|
||||
[70] https://twitter.com/hedgehogreview
|
||||
[71] https://iasculture.org/support
|
||||
[79] https://hedgehogreview.com/reset-password
|
||||
[81] https://hedgehogreview.com/order
|
||||
151
static/archive/nohappynonsense-net-op3iiu.txt
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151
static/archive/nohappynonsense-net-op3iiu.txt
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@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
|
||||
No Happy Nonsense
|
||||
|
||||
Hi, my name is Mike V. I write things and post them here. [1]More info.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
a dividing line
|
||||
|
||||
2025/05/03: [2]Streak
|
||||
|
||||
2025/04/26: [3]Rolled
|
||||
|
||||
2025/04/19: [4]Short Order
|
||||
|
||||
2025/04/12: [5]Peripeteia
|
||||
|
||||
2025/04/05: [6]Corey, Running
|
||||
|
||||
2025/03/29: [7]Illegal Trash Collection
|
||||
|
||||
2025/03/22: [8]The New Guy
|
||||
|
||||
2025/03/15: [9]My Quiet Life
|
||||
|
||||
2025/03/08: [10]You’re Smoking a Cigarette That You Aren’t Supposed To
|
||||
|
||||
2025/03/01: [11]Plant-Based
|
||||
|
||||
2025/02/22: [12]The Gate
|
||||
|
||||
2025/02/15: [13]The Planning Department
|
||||
|
||||
2025/02/08: [14]From the Sky
|
||||
|
||||
2025/01/29: [15]Tracking Him
|
||||
|
||||
2025/01/25: [16]Same River Twice
|
||||
|
||||
2025/01/22: [17]Quick Shake Out
|
||||
|
||||
2025/01/18: [18]Back At The Station
|
||||
|
||||
2025/01/15: [19]Relaxing Morning Coffee
|
||||
|
||||
2025/01/11: [20]The Biggest Bag of Coffee Beans
|
||||
|
||||
2025/01/08: [21]Long Jump
|
||||
|
||||
2025/01/04: [22]The Coffin-Builder
|
||||
|
||||
2025/01/01: [23]Giving Thanks
|
||||
|
||||
2024/12/28: [24]Jalapeños
|
||||
|
||||
2024/12/25: [25]The Method
|
||||
|
||||
2024/12/21: [26]Down the Street
|
||||
|
||||
2024/12/18: [27]Scum
|
||||
|
||||
2024/12/14: [28]AG2DOT2
|
||||
|
||||
2024/12/07: [29]Doctor Video Game Therapy
|
||||
|
||||
2024/11/30: [30]The You That Is You
|
||||
|
||||
2024/11/27: [31]Yeah, but It’s a Wet, Ugly Heat
|
||||
|
||||
2024/11/23: [32]Without Apologies to the Cowboy
|
||||
|
||||
2024/11/16: [33]Antonio's
|
||||
|
||||
2024/11/16: [34]Buying Towels
|
||||
|
||||
2024/11/11: [35]Make A Wish
|
||||
|
||||
2024/11/09: [36]Fortune
|
||||
|
||||
2024/10/19: [37]Peel
|
||||
|
||||
2024/10/16: [38]Intrusive Thoughts
|
||||
|
||||
2024/10/12: [39]It’s Too Sticky
|
||||
|
||||
2024/10/05: [40]The Frier’s Club
|
||||
|
||||
2024/09/28: [41]The Magical Rejuvenation of a Clean House
|
||||
|
||||
2024/09/21: [42]This Diner Needs to Be Saved
|
||||
|
||||
2024/09/14: [43]Staying Fresh
|
||||
|
||||
2024/09/07: [44]At the Police Station
|
||||
|
||||
2024/08/31: [45]Peeled
|
||||
|
||||
2024/08/24: [46]Remanence Decay
|
||||
|
||||
2024/08/17: [47]Bagels
|
||||
|
||||
More old posts coming soon
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
References:
|
||||
|
||||
[1] https://nohappynonsense.net/about.html
|
||||
[2] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/streak.html
|
||||
[3] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/rolled.html
|
||||
[4] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/shortorder.html
|
||||
[5] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/peripeteia.html
|
||||
[6] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/coreyrunning.html
|
||||
[7] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/trashcollection.html
|
||||
[8] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/thenewguy.html
|
||||
[9] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/quietlife.html
|
||||
[10] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/smoking.html
|
||||
[11] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/plantbased.html
|
||||
[12] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/thegate.html
|
||||
[13] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/planningdept.html
|
||||
[14] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/fromthesky.html
|
||||
[15] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/hetracks.html
|
||||
[16] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/riverx2.html
|
||||
[17] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/shakey.html
|
||||
[18] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/station2.html
|
||||
[19] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/relaxingmorningcoffer.html
|
||||
[20] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/beansss.html
|
||||
[21] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/longjumpy.html
|
||||
[22] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/thecoffinbuilder.html
|
||||
[23] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2025/wearegivingthanks.html
|
||||
[24] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/jalapenos.html
|
||||
[25] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/breadisthemethod.html
|
||||
[26] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/downthestreet.html
|
||||
[27] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/itsscum.html
|
||||
[28] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/ag2dot2.html
|
||||
[29] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/drvidya.html
|
||||
[30] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/youyou.html
|
||||
[31] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/wettouggo.html
|
||||
[32] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/withoutapologies.html
|
||||
[33] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/hisnameisantonio.html
|
||||
[34] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/buyingtowels.html
|
||||
[35] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/makeawish.html
|
||||
[36] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/fortune.html
|
||||
[37] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/peel.html
|
||||
[38] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/intrusive.html
|
||||
[39] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/sticky.html
|
||||
[40] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/friers.html
|
||||
[41] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/cleanhouse.html
|
||||
[42] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/dinersaved.html
|
||||
[43] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/stayingfresh.html
|
||||
[44] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/station.html
|
||||
[45] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/peeled.html
|
||||
[46] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/remdec.html
|
||||
[47] https://nohappynonsense.net/perma/2024/bagels.html
|
||||
1134
static/archive/nolanlawson-com-8xt5ob.txt
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1134
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Load Diff
468
static/archive/theconvivialsociety-substack-com-h1t0g7.txt
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468
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@@ -0,0 +1,468 @@
|
||||
[1]
|
||||
The Convivial Society
|
||||
|
||||
[2]The Convivial Society
|
||||
|
||||
SubscribeSign in
|
||||
|
||||
Share this post
|
||||
|
||||
[8]
|
||||
[https]
|
||||
The Convivial Society
|
||||
The Convivial Society
|
||||
Life Cannot Be Delegated
|
||||
Copy link
|
||||
Facebook
|
||||
Email
|
||||
Notes
|
||||
More
|
||||
|
||||
Life Cannot Be Delegated
|
||||
|
||||
The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 15
|
||||
|
||||
[9]
|
||||
L. M. Sacasas's avatar
|
||||
[10]L. M. Sacasas
|
||||
Dec 29, 2024
|
||||
321
|
||||
|
||||
Share this post
|
||||
|
||||
[12]
|
||||
[https]
|
||||
The Convivial Society
|
||||
The Convivial Society
|
||||
Life Cannot Be Delegated
|
||||
Copy link
|
||||
Facebook
|
||||
Email
|
||||
Notes
|
||||
More
|
||||
[13]
|
||||
7
|
||||
83
|
||||
[14]
|
||||
Share
|
||||
|
||||
Welcome to the last installment of the Convivial Society for 2024. Come
|
||||
January, this iteration of the newsletter will celebrate its fifth year. It’s
|
||||
been a joy to write, and a pleasure to connect with readers over the past five
|
||||
years. Thank you all. In this short installment, I offer you a principle which
|
||||
might guide our thinking about technology in the coming year, along with a
|
||||
couple of year-end traditions tagged on at the end.
|
||||
|
||||
Cheers and happy new year,
|
||||
|
||||
Michael
|
||||
|
||||
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
|
||||
|
||||
A few weeks ago, I posted about how certain lines or quotations can function as
|
||||
verbal amulets that we carry with us to ward off the deleterious spirits of the
|
||||
age. Such words, I suggested, “might somehow shield or guide or console or
|
||||
sustain the one who held them close to mind and heart.”
|
||||
|
||||
One such line for me, which I did not include in that earlier post, comes from
|
||||
a rather well-known 1964 essay by historian and cultural critic Lewis Mumford,
|
||||
[15]“Authoritarian and Democratic Technics.”[16]1 Of course, to say it is
|
||||
“well-known” is a relative statement. I mean something like “well-known within
|
||||
that tiny subset of people who are interested in technology and culture and who
|
||||
also happen to care about what older sources might teach us about such
|
||||
matters.” So, you know, not “well-known” in the sense that most people would
|
||||
mean the phrase.
|
||||
|
||||
That said, the essay should be more widely read. Sixty years later, Mumford’s
|
||||
counsel and warnings appear all the more urgent. It is in this essay that
|
||||
Mumford warned about the “magnificent bribe” that accounts for why “our age
|
||||
surrendered so easily to the controllers, the manipulators, the conditioners of
|
||||
an authoritarian technics.”
|
||||
|
||||
Here’s how Mumford describes the bargain. Forgive the lengthy quotation, but I
|
||||
think it will be worth your time if you’ve not encountered it before.
|
||||
|
||||
The bargain we are being asked to ratify takes the form of a magnificent
|
||||
bribe. Under the democratic-authoritarian social contract, each member of
|
||||
the community may claim every material advantage, every intellectual and
|
||||
emotional stimulus he may desire, in quantities hardly available hitherto
|
||||
even for a restricted minority: food, housing, swift transportation,
|
||||
instantaneous communication, medical care, entertainment, education. But on
|
||||
one condition: that one must not merely ask for nothing that the system
|
||||
does not provide, but likewise agree to take everything offered, duly
|
||||
processed and fabricated, homogenized and equalized, in the precise
|
||||
quantities that the system, rather than the person, requires. Once one opts
|
||||
for the system no further choice remains. In a word, if one surrenders
|
||||
one’s life at source, authoritarian technics will give back as much of it
|
||||
as can be mechanically graded, quantitatively multiplied, collectively
|
||||
manipulated and magnified.
|
||||
|
||||
There’s a lot to think about in those few lines. For my money, that paragraph,
|
||||
written sixty years ago, tells us more about the current state of affairs than
|
||||
a thousand takes we might stumble across as we browse our timelines today.
|
||||
There is, for instance, just below the surface of Mumford’s analysis, a
|
||||
profound insight into the nature of human desire in late modern societies that
|
||||
is worth teasing out at length, but I’ll pass on that for the time being.[17]2
|
||||
|
||||
A little further on, nearing the close of the essay, Mumford tells readers that
|
||||
they should not mistake his meaning. “This is not a prediction of what will
|
||||
happen,” he clarifies, “but a warning against what may happen.” More than half
|
||||
a century later, I’m tempted to say that the warning has come perilously close
|
||||
to reality and the only question now might be what comes next.
|
||||
|
||||
But all of this, patient reader, is prelude to sharing the line to which I’ve
|
||||
been alluding.
|
||||
|
||||
It is this: “Life cannot be delegated.”
|
||||
|
||||
Simply stated. Decisive. Memorable.
|
||||
|
||||
Here’s a bit more of the immediate context:
|
||||
|
||||
“What I wish to do is to persuade those who are concerned with maintaining
|
||||
democratic institutions to see that their constructive efforts must include
|
||||
technology itself. There, too, we must return to the human center. We must
|
||||
challenge this authoritarian system that has given to an under-dimensioned
|
||||
ideology and technology the authority that belongs to the human
|
||||
personality. I repeat: life cannot be delegated.”
|
||||
|
||||
I say it is simply stated, but it also invites clarifying questions. Chief
|
||||
among them might be “What exactly is meant by ‘life’?” Or, “Why exactly can it
|
||||
not be delegated?” And, “What counts as delegation anyway?” So let’s start
|
||||
there.
|
||||
|
||||
Whatever we take life to mean, we should immediately recognize that we are
|
||||
speaking qualitatively. Mumford is telling us something about an ideal form of
|
||||
life, not mere existence.[18]3 Earlier, for example, he had spoken about life
|
||||
in its “fullness and wholeness.”
|
||||
|
||||
Mumford’s claim is a provocation for us to consider what might be essential to
|
||||
a life that is full and whole, one in which we might find meaning, purpose,
|
||||
satisfaction, and an experience of personal integrity. This form of life cannot
|
||||
be delegated because by its very nature it requires our whole-person
|
||||
involvement. And by delegation, I take Mumford to mean the outsourcing of such
|
||||
involvement to a technological device or system, or, alternatively, the embrace
|
||||
of technologically mediated distraction and escapism in the place of such
|
||||
involvement.
|
||||
|
||||
I also tend to read Mumford’s claim through Ivan Illich’s concept of thresholds
|
||||
. Illich invited us to evaluate technologies and institutions by identifying
|
||||
relevant thresholds, which, when crossed, rendered the technology or
|
||||
institution counterproductive. This means that rather than declare a technology
|
||||
or institution either good or bad by its nature, we recognize instead the
|
||||
possibility that a technology or institution might serve useful ends until it
|
||||
crosses certain thresholds of scale, volume, or intensity, after which it stops
|
||||
serving the ends for which it was created and become, first, counterproductive
|
||||
and then eventually destructive.
|
||||
|
||||
So, with regard to the principle that life cannot be delegated, we might
|
||||
helpfully ask, “What are the thresholds of delegation beyond which what we are
|
||||
left with is no longer life in its fullness and wholeness?”
|
||||
|
||||
This seems to be an especially relevant question as we navigate the
|
||||
ever-widening field of technologies which invite us to delegate an increasing
|
||||
range of tasks, activities, roles, and responsibilities. We are told, for
|
||||
instance, that we are entering an age of LLM-based AI agents, which will be
|
||||
able to streamline our work and simplify our lives across a wide array of
|
||||
domains.
|
||||
|
||||
[19]
|
||||
[https]
|
||||
|
||||
Perhaps. My point is not to rule out any such possibility.[20]4 Rather, I am
|
||||
inviting us to critically consider at the outset where the thresholds of
|
||||
delegation might be for each of us. And these will, in fact, vary person to
|
||||
person, which is why I tend to traffic in questions rather than prescriptions.
|
||||
I am convinced that these are matters of practical wisdom. No one can set out a
|
||||
list of precise and universal rules applicable to every person under all
|
||||
circumstances. Indeed, the temptation to wish for such is likely a symptom of
|
||||
the general malaise. We must all think for ourselves, and in conversation with
|
||||
each other, so that we can arrive at sound judgments under our particular
|
||||
circumstances and given our particular aims.
|
||||
|
||||
The principle “Life cannot be delegated” is simply a guidepost.[21]5 It keeps
|
||||
before us the possibility that we might, if we are not careful, delegate away a
|
||||
form of life that is full and whole, rewarding and meaningful. We ought to be
|
||||
especially careful in the cases where what we delegate to a device, app, agent,
|
||||
or system is an aspect of how we express care, cultivate skill, relate to one
|
||||
another, make moral judgments, or assume responsibility for our actions in the
|
||||
world—the very things, in other words, that make life meaningful.
|
||||
|
||||
Perhaps we are tempted to think that care, skill, judgment, and responsibility
|
||||
are only of consequence when the circumstances are grave, momentous, or
|
||||
otherwise obviously consequential, which means that we might miss how, in fact,
|
||||
even our mundane everyday work might be exactly how we care, develop skill,
|
||||
exercise judgment, and embrace responsibility. (It occurs to me just now, that
|
||||
the etymology of mundane, usually given a pejorative sense in English, suggests
|
||||
something that is “of this world.” It is the stuff our world is made of, to
|
||||
take flight from the mundane is to take flight from the world.)
|
||||
|
||||
If you’ve been reading for a while, you know this is something I’ve sought to
|
||||
articulate at various points in the last few years ([22]for example). So I’m
|
||||
always glad to encounter someone else trying to say the same thing and saying
|
||||
it well. Recently, I stumbled across this bit of wisdom from Gary Snyder[23]6:
|
||||
|
||||
“All of us are apprenticed to the same teacher that the religious
|
||||
institutions originally worked with: reality. Reality-insight says … master
|
||||
the twenty-four hours. Do it well, without self-pity. It is as hard to get
|
||||
the children herded into the car pool and down the road to the bus as it is
|
||||
to chant sutras in the Buddha-hall on a cold morning. One move is not
|
||||
better than another, each can be quite boring, and they both have the
|
||||
virtuous quality of repetition. Repetition and ritual and their good
|
||||
results come in many forms. Changing the filter, wiping noses, going to
|
||||
meetings, picking up around the house, washing dishes, checking the
|
||||
dipstick—don't let yourself think these are distracting you from your more
|
||||
serious pursuits. Such a round of chores is not a set of difficulties we
|
||||
hope to escape from so that we may do our ‘practice’ which will put us on a
|
||||
‘path’—it is our path.”
|
||||
|
||||
I’ll conclude by offering you a complementary principle to Mumford’s: To live
|
||||
is to be implicated.
|
||||
|
||||
I take the language of implication, with its rich connotations, from Steven
|
||||
Garber, who writes about work and vocation from a religious perspective.
|
||||
Drawing on Wendell Berry and Václav Havel, Garber argues that we should seek to
|
||||
live in a manner that implicates us, for love’s sake, in the way the world is
|
||||
and ought to be. In my view, Garber’s exhortation echoes Mumford’s warning but
|
||||
in another key. To say that life cannot be delegated is to say that life, lived
|
||||
consciously and well, will necessarily implicate us in the world. May we have
|
||||
the courage to be so implicated.
|
||||
|
||||
[24]Share
|
||||
|
||||
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This newsletter is reader-supported and a crucial part of how I make a living.
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━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
|
||||
|
||||
Year’s End
|
||||
|
||||
It is customary for me to share Richard Wilbur’s poem [39]“Year’s End” in the
|
||||
last installment of the year. Enjoy.
|
||||
|
||||
Now winter downs the dying of the year,
|
||||
And night is all a settlement of snow;
|
||||
From the soft street the rooms of houses show
|
||||
A gathered light, a shapen atmosphere,
|
||||
Like frozen-over lakes whose ice is thin
|
||||
And still allows some stirring down within.
|
||||
|
||||
I’ve known the wind by water banks to shake
|
||||
The late leaves down, which frozen where they fell
|
||||
And held in ice as dancers in a spell
|
||||
Fluttered all winter long into a lake;
|
||||
Graved on the dark in gestures of descent,
|
||||
They seemed their own most perfect monument.
|
||||
|
||||
There was perfection in the death of ferns
|
||||
Which laid their fragile cheeks against the stone
|
||||
A million years. Great mammoths overthrown
|
||||
Composedly have made their long sojourns,
|
||||
Like palaces of patience, in the gray
|
||||
And changeless lands of ice. And at Pompeii
|
||||
|
||||
The little dog lay curled and did not rise
|
||||
But slept the deeper as the ashes rose
|
||||
And found the people incomplete, and froze
|
||||
The random hands, the loose unready eyes
|
||||
Of men expecting yet another sun
|
||||
To do the shapely thing they had not done.
|
||||
|
||||
These sudden ends of time must give us pause.
|
||||
We fray into the future, rarely wrought
|
||||
Save in the tapestries of afterthought.
|
||||
More time, more time. Barrages of applause
|
||||
Come muffled from a buried radio.
|
||||
The New-year bells are wrangling with the snow.
|
||||
|
||||
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
|
||||
[40]
|
||||
[https]
|
||||
“The Hunters in the Snow,” Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1565)
|
||||
[41]1
|
||||
|
||||
For a more extensive consideration of this essay, see this excellent discussion
|
||||
by Zachary Loeb: [42]“Authoritarian and Democratic Technics, revisited.”
|
||||
|
||||
[43]2
|
||||
|
||||
Here’s another paragraph that remains timely: “The inventors of nuclear bombs,
|
||||
space rockets, and computers are the pyramid builders of our own age:
|
||||
psychologically inflated by a similar myth of unqualified power, boasting
|
||||
through their science of their increasing omnipotence, if not omniscience,
|
||||
moved by obsessions and compulsions no less irrational than those of earlier
|
||||
absolute systems: particularly the notion that the system itself must be
|
||||
expanded, at whatever eventual cost to life.”
|
||||
|
||||
[44]3
|
||||
|
||||
Although I am immediately tempted to add that there is no such thing as mere
|
||||
existence. Existence itself is a miracle, and the recognition of this fact the
|
||||
beginning of wonder and thus thought.
|
||||
|
||||
[45]4
|
||||
|
||||
Although I commend to you Rob Horning’s [46]analysis: “Generative AI, [Ben]
|
||||
Recht argues, ‘always seems to provide the minimal effort path to a passing but
|
||||
shitty solution,’ which actually seems like a fairly charitable assessment. But
|
||||
it is obviously something that worker-users would employ when they don’t care
|
||||
about what they are asking for or how it is presented, for optimized producers
|
||||
who see research as an obstacle to understanding rather than the essence of it,
|
||||
for people conditioned to be absent at any presumed moment of communion.
|
||||
Generative AI is the quintessence of incuriosity, perfect for those who hate
|
||||
the idea of having to be interested in anything.”
|
||||
|
||||
[47]5
|
||||
|
||||
I’m tentatively planning on following up with two additional posts on related
|
||||
principles: Life cannot be simulated, and life cannot be accelerated. We’ll
|
||||
see!
|
||||
|
||||
[48]6
|
||||
|
||||
In the original post, I wrote “the late Gary Snyder,” which, as more than one
|
||||
attentive reader pointed out, was a grave mistake. Snyder is still with us, and
|
||||
I’m not sure how I got it in my head that he had passed. Snyder was the subject
|
||||
of a recent [49]episode of the wonderful
|
||||
[50]The Lost Prophets Podcast
|
||||
. Also, I think the most recent [51]episode with
|
||||
[52]Dougald Hine
|
||||
is quite pertinent to the content of this post, and well worth your time.
|
||||
|
||||
321
|
||||
|
||||
Share this post
|
||||
|
||||
[54]
|
||||
[https]
|
||||
The Convivial Society
|
||||
The Convivial Society
|
||||
Life Cannot Be Delegated
|
||||
Copy link
|
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|
||||
Notes
|
||||
More
|
||||
[55]
|
||||
7
|
||||
83
|
||||
[56]
|
||||
Share
|
||||
PreviousNext
|
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|
||||
Discussion about this post
|
||||
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||||
CommentsRestacks
|
||||
User's avatar
|
||||
[ ]
|
||||
[ ]
|
||||
[ ]
|
||||
[ ]
|
||||
[63]
|
||||
Annie Gottlieb's avatar
|
||||
[64]Annie Gottlieb
|
||||
[65]Dec 30
|
||||
|
||||
Gary Snyder is still alive!! Please take out that “late!”
|
||||
|
||||
Expand full comment
|
||||
Reply
|
||||
Share
|
||||
[67]2 replies by L. M. Sacasas and others
|
||||
[68]
|
||||
Melba's avatar
|
||||
[69]Melba
|
||||
[70]Dec 30
|
||||
|
||||
Re your 5th footnote, I would love to read those two pieces soon!
|
||||
|
||||
Expand full comment
|
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|
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[15] http://www.mom.arq.ufmg.br/mom/02_babel/textos/mumford_authoritarian.pdf
|
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[16] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-1-153663623
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||||
[17] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-2-153663623
|
||||
[18] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-3-153663623
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[19] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F125537b6-a31e-44fa-9bff-51d9143ae9f0_1506x1006.png
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[20] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-4-153663623
|
||||
[21] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-5-153663623
|
||||
[22] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/why-an-easier-life-is-not-necessarily
|
||||
[23] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-6-153663623
|
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[24] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share
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[37] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=528379b7&utm_content=153663623
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[39] https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43052/years-end-56d221b9e6bd8
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||||
[40] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe635e3a6-0485-4cef-a1f1-29bba1e2ba35_1518x1080.png
|
||||
[41] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-anchor-1-153663623
|
||||
[42] https://librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2021/01/13/authoritarian-and-democratic-technics-revisited/
|
||||
[43] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-anchor-2-153663623
|
||||
[44] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-anchor-3-153663623
|
||||
[45] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-anchor-4-153663623
|
||||
[46] https://robhorning.substack.com/p/commodified-incuriosity
|
||||
[47] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-anchor-5-153663623
|
||||
[48] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated#footnote-anchor-6-153663623
|
||||
[49] https://www.lostprophets.org/p/8-gary-snyder-ft-peter-coyote
|
||||
[50] https://open.substack.com/pub/lostprophets
|
||||
[51] https://www.lostprophets.org/p/9-dougald-hine-on-work-in-the-ruins
|
||||
[52] https://open.substack.com/users/1997022-dougald-hine?utm_source=mentions
|
||||
[54] https://substack.com/home/post/p-153663623?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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[55] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated/comments
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[56] javascript:void(0)
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[63] https://substack.com/profile/1981039-annie-gottlieb?utm_source=comment
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[64] https://substack.com/profile/1981039-annie-gottlieb?utm_source=substack-feed-item
|
||||
[65] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated/comment/83598899
|
||||
[67] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated/comment/83598899
|
||||
[68] https://substack.com/profile/5737507-melba?utm_source=comment
|
||||
[69] https://substack.com/profile/5737507-melba?utm_source=substack-feed-item
|
||||
[70] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated/comment/83583349
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||||
[72] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-cannot-be-delegated/comments
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[90] https://substack.com/privacy
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[95] https://substack.com/
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[97] https://enable-javascript.com/
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Re-sourcing the Mind
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The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 9
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[9]
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[10]L. M. Sacasas
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Aug 01, 2024
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[12]
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[https]
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The Convivial Society
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The Convivial Society
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Re-sourcing the Mind
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56
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[14]
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||||
Share
|
||||
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||||
Welcome to the Convivial Society, a newsletter exploring the relationship
|
||||
between technology, culture, and the moral life. This post about LLMs, the
|
||||
labor of articulation, and memory began as what I thought would be a brief
|
||||
installment. As if to prove one of the core claims of the essay, that the labor
|
||||
of articulation is itself generative, it grew in the writing. I hope you’ll
|
||||
find some things of use in it.
|
||||
|
||||
Cheers,
|
||||
|
||||
Michael
|
||||
|
||||
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
|
||||
|
||||
The founding text of technology criticism is found in one of Plato’s
|
||||
better-known dialogues, the Phaedrus.[15]1 During the course of Socrates’s
|
||||
conversation about love and rhetoric, he recounts the legend of an Egyptian
|
||||
king named Thamus and an inventor-god named Theuth. Theuth presents a number of
|
||||
inventions to Thamus for his consideration, touting their benefits for the
|
||||
Egyptian people. Among these was the gift of writing, but, surprisingly to
|
||||
Theuth, Thamus was less than enthused about this particular invention.
|
||||
|
||||
Here’s how the relevant portion of the dialogue goes. It begins with Theuth
|
||||
declaring,“Here is an accomplishment, my lord the King, which will improve both
|
||||
the wisdom and the memory of the Egyptians. I have discovered a sure receipt
|
||||
for memory and wisdom.”
|
||||
|
||||
And here is Thamus’s reply:
|
||||
|
||||
“Theuth, my paragon of inventors, the discoverer of an art is not the best
|
||||
judge of the good or harm which will accrue to those who practice it. So it
|
||||
is in this; you, who are the father of writing, have out of fondness for
|
||||
your off-spring attributed to it quite the opposite of its real function.
|
||||
Those who acquire it will cease to exercise their memory and become
|
||||
forgetful; they will rely on writing to bring things to their remembrance
|
||||
by external signs instead of by their own internal resources. What you have
|
||||
discovered is a receipt for recollection, not for memory. And as for
|
||||
wisdom, your pupils will have the reputation for it without the reality:
|
||||
they will receive a quantity of information without proper instruction, and
|
||||
in consequence be thought very knowledgeable when they are for the most
|
||||
part quite ignorant. And because they are filled with the conceit of wisdom
|
||||
instead of real wisdom they will be a burden to society.”
|
||||
|
||||
There are two typical responses to the critique of writing Plato here expresses
|
||||
through Socrates. The first is to see this as the prototypical “moral panic”
|
||||
about a new technology. If one takes this view, the best use of this text is to
|
||||
demonstrate how all contemporary tech criticism is similarly misguided and
|
||||
short-sighted. Plato was wrong about writing, thus contemporary critics who
|
||||
adopt the same pattern of analysis are likewise wrong about whatever novel
|
||||
technology they happen to be complaining about.[16]2
|
||||
|
||||
The second typical response would be, “Yep, Plato was basically right.”
|
||||
|
||||
In this way the passage serves as a Rorschach test for fundamental attitudes
|
||||
about technology.
|
||||
|
||||
But there is a third way, of course. Neil Postman, for example, began his
|
||||
discussion of this story by explaining the error of Thamus[17]3:
|
||||
|
||||
“The error is not in his claim that writing will damage memory and create
|
||||
false wisdom. It is demonstrable that writing has had such an effect.
|
||||
Thamus’ error is in his believing that writing will be a burden to society
|
||||
and nothing but a burden. For all his wisdom, he fails to imagine what
|
||||
writing’s benefits might be, which, as we know, have been considerable.”
|
||||
|
||||
Postman refers to Thamus as a “one-eyed prophet,” seeing only the harms and
|
||||
burdens that a new technology brings. In Postman’s view, however, “We are
|
||||
currently surrounded by throngs of zealous Theuths, one-eyed prophets who see
|
||||
only what new technologies can do and are incapable of imagining what they will
|
||||
undo.”
|
||||
|
||||
The point, Postman argued, was to see with both eyes. To recognize both the
|
||||
gains and the losses, the benefits and the burdens. Only then would we be able
|
||||
to judge soundly and wisely. This is, as it turns out, easier said than done.
|
||||
Cycles of hype and criti-hype tend to obscure our collective vision, and we
|
||||
seem to have a predilection for one-eyed prophets.[18]4
|
||||
|
||||
That said, my purpose in recalling Plato’s critique of writing is to set up a
|
||||
brief consideration of the work that large language models (LLM) like Chat GPT
|
||||
or Gemini promise to do for us, which I take to be, in short, the work of
|
||||
helping us say what we need to say.
|
||||
|
||||
I’ve started with Plato because my thesis here is roughly this: the use of LLMs
|
||||
is rendered plausible by the externalization and outsourcing of memory
|
||||
initiated by writing.
|
||||
|
||||
Maybe that sounds like an inelegant way of stating something rather obvious,
|
||||
but there are two claims in that thesis, the obvious one and another less
|
||||
obvious, possibly more contentious claim.
|
||||
|
||||
First, the obvious one. LLMs work, in part, by mining massive datasets of the
|
||||
written (and then digitized) word and drawing mathematical correlations among
|
||||
the words in these massive datasets in order to make predictions about what
|
||||
words should follow other words in a string. (There are other critical inputs,
|
||||
but this is the relevant bit for now.) Frankly, it is hard not to be impressed
|
||||
by what can be achieved through this method, which I have described
|
||||
inadequately, to be sure. There can be errors of fact, or what are called
|
||||
hallucinations, and the outputs are often soulless. Nonetheless, while
|
||||
breathless agitation about super-intelligence and x-risk is, in my view,
|
||||
misguided, it would be disingenuous to simply shrug a shoulder at the technical
|
||||
achievement. But the key point here is that none of this would have been
|
||||
possible had we not first received the gift of Theuth, the invention of
|
||||
writing, which, as Plato correctly observed, amounts to the externalization of
|
||||
memory.
|
||||
|
||||
So, then, in an obvious and uninteresting sense, externalized memory in the
|
||||
form of writing can be understood as the technical precondition of LLMs. But
|
||||
there’s a second, I think more interesting, way of framing externalized memory
|
||||
as a plausibility structure for the use of LLMs.
|
||||
|
||||
I’m more interested in what renders the use of LLMs plausible than in what
|
||||
makes them technically possible. The concept of a plausibility structure, drawn
|
||||
from the sociology of religion, is meant to describe social contexts,
|
||||
structures, or conditions that make it easier to hold certain beliefs.[19]5
|
||||
Apart from such structures, a belief may become implausible or untenable.
|
||||
Relatedly, I sometimes find it useful to ask, “What do I have to believe to
|
||||
adopt this or that new technology?”[20]6 Or, to put it somewhat differently,
|
||||
“What facts about my social world incline me to adopt a new technology?”
|
||||
|
||||
So, in the case of LLMs, we might say that the existing soulless and
|
||||
bureaucratic context of much of our writing—the filling out of forms,
|
||||
thoughtless school exercises, endless email—constitutes a plausibility
|
||||
structure for LLMs. Under such conditions, of course, it becomes perfectly
|
||||
reasonable to adopt a new technology that promised to relieve us of such tasks.
|
||||
|
||||
I’m less interested in these cases, however, than I am in the use of LLMs to
|
||||
accomplish what, for the lack of a better word, we might call more personal
|
||||
tasks. Consider, for instance, the anecdote recently shared by
|
||||
[21]Matthew B. Crawford
|
||||
in an [22]essay for the Hedgehog Review, which explores some of the same
|
||||
terrain I’m traversing here. Crawford tells of a recent conversation with a
|
||||
father who told him about how he had used Chat GPT to craft a toast for his
|
||||
daughter’s wedding. It’s the use of LLMs for this kind of writing that might be
|
||||
worth considering a bit more deeply, especially because it's abundantly clear
|
||||
that tech companies want us to use their products in this way.[23]7
|
||||
|
||||
Here too, of course, a relatively straightforward consideration presents
|
||||
itself—writing is hard. Many people find it intimidating, perhaps especially
|
||||
when you’ll be expressing yourself in public as in the case of a wedding toast.
|
||||
As Walter Ong, among others has noted, writing is not natural. While the use of
|
||||
language is natural to the human animal, the emergence of writing was not,
|
||||
strictly speaking, necessary. So if writing does not come easily, why not take
|
||||
up a tool that promises to do it for us, particularly in cases that call for
|
||||
something more personal than inconsequential boilerplate? Part of the response
|
||||
to that question involves showing what might be at stake, which I attempt to do
|
||||
in the next two or three paragraphs. But then I’ll also come back to why I
|
||||
started with Plato and conclude by considering whether there is not also a case
|
||||
of conditioned dependence stemming from our readiness to externalize our
|
||||
memory.
|
||||
|
||||
So let’s start with the observation that in these cases LLMs are more than a
|
||||
tool for writing, narrowly understood, because the act of writing is also the
|
||||
more basic act of articulation.[24]8 When we turn to an LLM to write for us, we
|
||||
are also inviting it to undertake the more fundamental task of articulation,
|
||||
and this is no small thing. Indeed, given the centrality of language to the
|
||||
human condition, we should wonder about the degree to which the outsourcing of
|
||||
the labor of articulation is the outsourcing of a fundamentally human activity.
|
||||
|
||||
To see this more clearly, consider what is entailed in the labor of
|
||||
articulation, and it often is, quite literally, a laborious activity. It is not
|
||||
simply the case that articulating ourselves in language is a matter of matching
|
||||
a set of words to a set of internal pre-existing feelings or inchoate
|
||||
impressions, as if the work of articulation left untouched and unchanged what
|
||||
it was we sought to articulate. Rather, the labor of articulation itself shapes
|
||||
what we think and feel. Articulation is not dictation, articulation constitutes
|
||||
our perception of the world.[25]9 To search for a word is not merely to search
|
||||
for a label, the search is interwoven with the very capacity to perceive and
|
||||
understand the thing, idea, or feeling. It is, in fact, generative of thought
|
||||
and feeling, and, ultimately, of who we understand ourselves to be. To
|
||||
articulate is also to interpret, thus it also constitutes the experience of
|
||||
meaning. The labor of articulation binds us to our experience and in
|
||||
relationship with others. The labor of articulation always presupposes the
|
||||
other, and is thus an ethical act that relies on candor, honesty, and
|
||||
attention. And while it is, in part, for the sake of the other that I set out
|
||||
to articulate myself, it is in this way that I also come into focus for myself.
|
||||
If I might be forgiven the analogy, it is through the labor of articulation
|
||||
that the self is birthed.
|
||||
|
||||
In the essay I mentioned above, Crawford cited remarks from the philosopher
|
||||
Talbot Brewer in an unpublished paper about what he termed “degenerative AI.”
|
||||
As it happens, I’ve also had occasion to hear some unpublished remarks by
|
||||
Brewer through a friend who attended a recent conference. One phrase in
|
||||
particular caught my attention. As I understood it, Brewer argued that
|
||||
dependence on LLMs took the self “out of play.” This is an evocative way of
|
||||
getting at the matter. In the labor of articulation, we put ourselves in play,
|
||||
with all the risks, rewards, burdens, challenges, and consolations that
|
||||
entails. To outsource the labor of articulation is to sideline ourselves.
|
||||
|
||||
So much then for what is at stake in the outsourcing of the labor of
|
||||
articulation. It was an important digression establishing the stakes, but now
|
||||
let’s come back to the main point. When we externalized our memory in the form
|
||||
of writing, we began building the databases upon which LLMs rely. But we also,
|
||||
as Plato argued, began emptying ourselves of the resources upon which the labor
|
||||
of articulation works. Plato was ultimately ahead of his time. It took a good
|
||||
long while for writing to be widely adopted. The residue of oral culture,
|
||||
including its valorization of memory, lingered for millennia. But digital
|
||||
technologies brought us across a critical threshold. The scale and ubiquity of
|
||||
digital databases, the vaunted access they provide to information, the promise
|
||||
of having all human knowledge at our fingertips have made it increasingly
|
||||
likely that people will “rely on writing to bring things to their remembrance
|
||||
by external signs instead of by their own internal resources.”
|
||||
|
||||
My contention, then, is that when we are confronted with the opportunity to
|
||||
outsource the labor of articulation, we will find that possibility more
|
||||
tempting to the degree that we experience a sense of incompetency and
|
||||
inadequacy, a sense which may have many sources, not least among which is the
|
||||
failure to stock our mind, heart, and imagination. There was, after all, a
|
||||
reason why memory was one of the five canons of classical rhetoric.[26]10 It
|
||||
was not just a matter of committing to memory what you had planned to say. It
|
||||
was also a matter of having internal resources to draw on in order to say
|
||||
anything at all. Of course, very few of us have any reason to see ourselves as
|
||||
rhetoricians, except that there may simply be something deeply humane and
|
||||
satisfying about the ability to express oneself well.[27]11
|
||||
|
||||
And this is to say nothing of how we might distinguish knowledge from the mere
|
||||
aggregation of disparate, readily accessible facts. Others may distinguish the
|
||||
two differently, but I think of knowledge as something more personal, something
|
||||
that emerges within us as we take in the world from our own unique perspective
|
||||
but also as members of particular communities. In doing so, we construct
|
||||
relationships among the things we come to know (and not merely know about),
|
||||
these relationships are shaped by our history and our desires. And this
|
||||
knowledge, carried within, shapes our ongoing encounters with the world,
|
||||
building a cascading experience of “understanding in light of,” a form of
|
||||
poetic knowledge. But this seems hardly possible if we too readily dismiss the
|
||||
need to curate our memory as carefully as we might curate our feeds.
|
||||
|
||||
I am reminded, too, of something the avant-garde playwright Richard Foreman
|
||||
observed many years ago[28]12:
|
||||
|
||||
I come from a tradition of Western culture, in which the ideal (my ideal)
|
||||
was the complex, dense and “cathedral-like” structure of the highly
|
||||
educated and articulate personality—a man or woman who carried inside
|
||||
themselves a personally constructed and unique version of the entire
|
||||
heritage of the West. But today, I see within us all (myself included) the
|
||||
replacement of complex inner density with a new kind of self-evolving under
|
||||
the pressure of information overload and the technology of the “instantly
|
||||
available.” A new self that needs to contain less and less of an inner
|
||||
repertory of dense cultural inheritance—as we all become “pancake
|
||||
people”—spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of
|
||||
information accessed by the mere touch of a button.
|
||||
|
||||
My modest suggestion in conclusion is this: perhaps we do well to re-evaluate
|
||||
how we think about memory and what I have called the labor of articulation.
|
||||
|
||||
New technologies challenge us. If we are up to the challenge, they give us the
|
||||
opportunity to reconsider things we have taken for granted. They invite us to
|
||||
rethink and recalibrate our assumptions about what it means to be human,
|
||||
perhaps even to reclaim some goods we had lost sight of along the way. LLMs
|
||||
confront us with just such a challenge, and in the vital realm of language no
|
||||
less. If we have assented, in large measure, to the promise of outsourcing our
|
||||
memory and now consequently find ourselves tempted to surrender the labor of
|
||||
articulation. Perhaps the best way to respond to the challenge is to consider
|
||||
how we might deliberately re-source our minds so that we might take up the
|
||||
labor of articulation with confidence and enjoy its very human satisfactions
|
||||
and consolations.
|
||||
|
||||
[29]Share
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
The Convivial Society is made possible by readers who value the work and have
|
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the means to support it. If that is you, please consider becoming a paid
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subscriber.
|
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|
||||
[40][ ]
|
||||
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|
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[42]1
|
||||
|
||||
I say that somewhat facetiously. Some might take issue with the claim. Maybe
|
||||
there’s another earlier text that better fits the bill.
|
||||
|
||||
[43]2
|
||||
|
||||
Even if one grants that Plato was wrong about writing, this is a non-sequitur.
|
||||
|
||||
[44]3
|
||||
|
||||
In Postman’s 1993 book, [45]Technopoly.
|
||||
|
||||
[46]4
|
||||
|
||||
“Criti-hype” is historian Lee Vinsel’s [47]term for criticism of technology
|
||||
that takes the hype for granted and thus appears as an equally unhelpful
|
||||
inversion of the tech boosterism.
|
||||
|
||||
[48]5
|
||||
|
||||
To the best of my knowledge, the term was coined by the late sociologist Peter
|
||||
Berger.
|
||||
|
||||
[49]6
|
||||
|
||||
The relationship can be dialectical. I may adopt certain technologies and find
|
||||
that their use becomes the plausibility structure for the formation of tacit
|
||||
beliefs. In using the tool, I find that I come to believe something about the
|
||||
world or about the self that I would not have otherwise. So it is not simply a
|
||||
matter of what I had to believe to justify my use of a technology, it’s also a
|
||||
question of what I come to believe because of my use of the technology (in
|
||||
order to justify my use, for example).
|
||||
|
||||
[50]7
|
||||
|
||||
Consider the Google Gemini ad that has run during the Olympics. It features a
|
||||
father using Gemini to help his daughter write a fan letter to an Olympic
|
||||
athlete.
|
||||
[51]Max Read
|
||||
had a useful discussion of these ads in his latest [52]installment.
|
||||
|
||||
[53]8
|
||||
|
||||
I want to acknowledge that writing is a distinct use of language, one that is
|
||||
already informed by a technology, the alphabet. Writing and articulation are
|
||||
not necessarily co-terminous, and articulation in literate societies is already
|
||||
influenced by writing.
|
||||
|
||||
[54]9
|
||||
|
||||
Some will rightly note echoes of Charles Taylor’s work here.
|
||||
|
||||
[55]10
|
||||
|
||||
Along with invention, arrangement, style, and delivery.
|
||||
|
||||
[56]11
|
||||
|
||||
St. Augustine, who was classically trained, wrote movingly of memory: “I come
|
||||
to fields and vast palaces of memory, where are the treasures of innumerable
|
||||
images of all kinds of objects brought in by sense-perception.”
|
||||
|
||||
[57]12
|
||||
|
||||
These lines were cited by cited by Nicholas Carr near the end of his 2008 [58]
|
||||
essay on some of these very themes of this installment.
|
||||
|
||||
224
|
||||
|
||||
Share this post
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The Convivial Society
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Re-sourcing the Mind
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[62]
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Discussion about this post
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[69]
|
||||
Eric Dane Walker's avatar
|
||||
[70]Eric Dane Walker
|
||||
[71]Aug 1
|
||||
Liked by L. M. Sacasas
|
||||
|
||||
I might have more to write later, but I thought I'd share a favorite quote of
|
||||
mine that resonates with what you say here.
|
||||
|
||||
It's from Maurice Merleau-Ponty's 1945 book, Phenomenology of Perception. (I
|
||||
pull the quote from p. 182 of the 1970 Colin Smith translation published by
|
||||
Routledge and Kegan Paul.)
|
||||
|
||||
"Linguistic expression does not translate ready-made thought, but accomplishes
|
||||
it."
|
||||
|
||||
Expand full comment
|
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|
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|
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[74]2 replies by L. M. Sacasas and others
|
||||
[75]
|
||||
Heather Blankenship's avatar
|
||||
[76]Heather Blankenship
|
||||
[77]Aug 1
|
||||
|
||||
It breaks my heart to think of a father utilizing Chat GPT to create a toast
|
||||
for his daughter’s wedding. I can understand wanting to present yourself in a
|
||||
“polished” way for such a public offering, but it does feel as if the entire
|
||||
point of a father personally addressing his daughter (& loved ones in
|
||||
attendance) is being missed. Your “taking self out of play” is spot on. I’m a
|
||||
psychotherapist and was recently talking to my close friend and her husband
|
||||
about challenges they’re having with their adult daughter and made some
|
||||
suggestions as to ways they could begin a dialogue with her. The husband (who
|
||||
is the biological dad) wanted me to write down what I had said so he could use
|
||||
my wording in a letter to her. I declined, and instead wrote out general
|
||||
suggestions on how to approach the situation. (For example: Let her know in no
|
||||
uncertain terms your love for her and that you’re hoping to cultivate harmony
|
||||
in the relationship. Ask her for any unresolved questions or concerns she has
|
||||
from the past that she still harbors anger or confusion about. Be willing to
|
||||
apologize and acknowledge your own shortcomings. Let her know her well being
|
||||
was always the goal of decisions that were made, even when the results ended up
|
||||
damaging the relationships. Etc.) I also strongly encouraged him to hand write
|
||||
the letter and in cursive if possible. I know it’s easier and speedier for most
|
||||
people to use a keyboard, but is ease and speed always preferable? I have
|
||||
discovered in my own life (and working with clients throughout the years) that
|
||||
handwritten letters/ journals/correspondence & maybe even wedding toasts) are
|
||||
more meaningful for the creator and the recipient. When writing things out
|
||||
(especially in cursive) the feeling you are hoping to convey is accessed easier
|
||||
AND if you start to write words that don’t adequately reflect what you’re
|
||||
attempting to articulate, you will be aware of it immediately. Additionally,
|
||||
most recipients of handwritten letters recognize the time, care and perhaps
|
||||
even struggles it took to create. I’m 60 years old, so probably “old school”
|
||||
compared to many, but even my 12 & 10 year old niece and nephew tell me how
|
||||
much they cherish the handwritten letters and cards I have given them over the
|
||||
years. I know it’s a bit different from the father of the bride wanting to make
|
||||
a good impression in a public setting, but I still believe things that come
|
||||
from the head and heart without mediated by a machine, are priceless, even in
|
||||
their “imperfections.” If the father had written out his toast himself, he
|
||||
could present it to his daughter as a keepsake; something he’s unlikely to do
|
||||
if he used Chat GPT. Thank you as always for your thought provoking sharings… I
|
||||
think you and I agree that technologies can be very useful, but there is always
|
||||
a gain AND a loss in adopting them… perhaps humans will develop wisdom and know
|
||||
when the spoken word is best, when handwritten words are called for, when a
|
||||
human and keyboard is ideal, and when Chat GPT is optimum. Blessings to you and
|
||||
all your readers!
|
||||
|
||||
Expand full comment
|
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Reply
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[23] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-7-146032272
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[24] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-8-146032272
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[25] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-9-146032272
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[26] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-10-146032272
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[27] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-11-146032272
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[28] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-12-146032272
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[43] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-anchor-2-146032272
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[44] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-anchor-3-146032272
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[45] https://bookshop.org/p/books/technopoly-the-surrender-of-culture-to-technology-neil-postman/6718677?aid=101333&ean=9780679745402&listref=media-ecology&
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[46] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-anchor-4-146032272
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[47] https://sts-news.medium.com/youre-doing-it-wrong-notes-on-criticism-and-technology-hype-18b08b4307e5
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[48] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-anchor-5-146032272
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[49] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-anchor-6-146032272
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[50] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-anchor-7-146032272
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[51] https://open.substack.com/users/238208-max-read?utm_source=mentions
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[53] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-anchor-8-146032272
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[54] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-anchor-9-146032272
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[55] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-anchor-10-146032272
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[56] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-anchor-11-146032272
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[57] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind#footnote-anchor-12-146032272
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[58] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/
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[60] https://substack.com/home/post/p-146032272?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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[71] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind/comment/64062732
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[74] https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/re-sourcing-the-mind/comment/64062732
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[75] https://substack.com/profile/68433168-heather-blankenship?utm_source=comment
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Tressie McMillan Cottom
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The Tech Fantasy That Powers A.I. Is Running on Fumes
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March 29, 2025
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Opinion Columnist
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Behold the decade of mid tech!
|
||||
|
||||
That is what I want to say every time someone asks me, “What about A.I.?” with
|
||||
the breathless anticipation of a boy who thinks this is the summer he finally
|
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gets to touch a boob. I’m far from a Luddite. It is precisely because I use new
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|
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|
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life have started to get silly really fast. Most of us aren’t using A.I. to
|
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[25]save lives faster and better. We are using A.I. to make mediocre
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improvements, such as emailing more. Even the most enthusiastic papers about
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A.I.’s power to augment white-collar work have struggled to come up with
|
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something more exciting than “A brief that once took two days to write will now
|
||||
take two hours!”
|
||||
|
||||
Mid tech’s best innovation is a threat.
|
||||
|
||||
A.I. is one of many technologies that promise transformation through iteration
|
||||
rather than disruption. Consumer automation once promised seamless checkout
|
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experiences that empowered customers to bag our own groceries. It turns out
|
||||
that checkout automation is pretty mid — cashiers are still better at managing
|
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|
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|
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adoption of the technology (complete with unresolved privacy concerns) hasn’t
|
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|
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lines shorter. I’ll just say, it all feels pretty mid to me.
|
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|
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The economists Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepo [26]call these kinds of
|
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technological fizzles “so-so” technologies. They change some jobs. They’re kind
|
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of nifty for a while. Eventually they become background noise or are flat-out
|
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annoying, say, when you’re bagging two weeks’ worth of your own groceries.
|
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Artificial intelligence is supposedly more radical than automation. Tech
|
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billionaires promise us that workers who can’t or won’t use A.I. will be left
|
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behind. Politicians promise to make policy that unleashes the power of A.I. to
|
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|
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|
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power, but they accept a lot of bugginess and poor performance to live in the
|
||||
future before everyone else.
|
||||
|
||||
The rest of us are using this technology for far more mundane purposes. A.I.
|
||||
spits out meal plans with the right amount of macros, tells us when our
|
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calendars are overscheduled and helps write emails that no one wants. That’s a
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The Business of Empathy — The CEO of Kobo believes books can save us
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Rakuten Kobo’s Michael Tamblyn believes that in an age of fragmented attention,
|
||||
books remain the deepest form of human connection.
|
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By [12]Zat Astha / 24 Mar 2025
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[53a6cfa2df7924e6ddb2126a2c60bc7d93ca1bc72aa81f79684beafef48619e8]
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Share this article
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[14][15][16][17][18]
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In a spacious conference room overlooking the bustling heart of Singapore’s
|
||||
Raffles Place, Michael Tamblyn leans forward slightly, relaxed. The deep-red
|
||||
carpet beneath him lends warmth to the otherwise sleek, corporate setting,
|
||||
framing the scene for a conversation rich with introspection. It’s perfectly
|
||||
evident that he’s accustomed to grappling with big questions. As the CEO of
|
||||
Rakuten Kobo, a global giant in the digital reading sphere, Tamblyn navigates
|
||||
daily through a paradox at the very heart of modern readership: how to draw
|
||||
readers away from the addictive pull of social media and streaming platforms —
|
||||
and yet simultaneously leverage those same platforms to rekindle the world’s
|
||||
waning love affair with books.
|
||||
|
||||
“We’re definitely fighting for time,” the music graduate (Tamblyn has a degree
|
||||
in music composition from Wilfrid Laurier University) acknowledges, his voice
|
||||
steady and earnest. The competitive landscape he describes extends far beyond
|
||||
traditional rivals like Google, Apple, or Amazon. Instead, Kobo finds itself
|
||||
wrestling with entities designed explicitly to monetise and fragment our focus
|
||||
— platforms like YouTube, Netflix, TikTok, whose business models depend on
|
||||
endless scrolling and binge-watching. “These platforms have figured out how to
|
||||
put a price tag on time,” he continues. “We constantly compete for attention,
|
||||
striving to remind people that books are not only a valuable part of their
|
||||
lives but also an inherently interesting one.”
|
||||
|
||||
The irony isn’t lost on him, however. As readers’ attention fragments, the very
|
||||
platforms drawing their gaze away from books are paradoxically fuelling a
|
||||
resurgence of literary enthusiasm. Enter BookTok, the wildly popular TikTok
|
||||
subculture where young influencers passionately recommend, dissect, and promote
|
||||
their favourite reads. “Sometimes we compete, and sometimes the social media
|
||||
world actually helps us,” Tamblyn notes, a wry smile hinting at the curious
|
||||
nature of this symbiosis. “People are discovering books through the same
|
||||
channels that typically divert their attention away from deeper reading.”
|
||||
|
||||
Indeed, ask any contemporary publisher, and they’ll express gratitude for this
|
||||
unexpected alliance with influencers. BookTok stars regularly catapult
|
||||
overlooked novels onto bestseller lists, breathing fresh life into literary
|
||||
classics and propelling unknown authors into the spotlight overnight.
|
||||
|
||||
But Tamblyn sees beyond temporary spikes in popularity. For him, the crucial
|
||||
task is retention. “Our job, as creators of the reading experience, is to
|
||||
stretch out that captured moment as far as we possibly can,” he explains. “Once
|
||||
someone has a book in front of them, everything else must fade away.”
|
||||
|
||||
Still, achieving this goal isn’t straightforward. It requires a blend of
|
||||
technological innovation, insightful marketing, and sheer enthusiasm for
|
||||
storytelling. Tamblyn knows that to successfully game the ecosystem of
|
||||
attention, Kobo must outsmart it.
|
||||
|
||||
It’s why the company innovates tirelessly, from elegantly designed e-readers to
|
||||
intuitive digital storefronts, all engineered to make the act of reading
|
||||
seamless and captivating. Tamblyn compares these innovations to islands in a
|
||||
stormy sea of digital distractions. “We’re creating spaces where the world
|
||||
quiets down, allowing the reader to step inside a story entirely,” he reflects.
|
||||
This thoughtful integration of technology, carefully balanced with the
|
||||
authentic magic of storytelling, is how Tamblyn envisions winning the attention
|
||||
battle. For him, books are neither relics nor mere commodities; they are
|
||||
necessary sanctuaries in a fragmented online landscape. “People genuinely crave
|
||||
deeper stories,” he insists. “They want compelling characters; they want the
|
||||
opportunity to step away from constant distraction.”
|
||||
|
||||
From small-town shelves to a global bookstore
|
||||
|
||||
Long before Tamblyn sat at the helm of a digital powerhouse like Rakuten Kobo,
|
||||
his passion for books was sparked within the humble aisles of a small-town
|
||||
bookstore in rural Canada. This modest shop was Tamblyn’s gateway to the wider
|
||||
world. “The nearest town was a half-hour drive away,” Tamblyn recalls warmly.
|
||||
“But the most interesting store for me there was the bookstore — we were lucky
|
||||
to have one. I just thought it was the most fascinating place ever.”
|
||||
|
||||
For Tamblyn, stepping through the bookstore’s threshold was transformative.
|
||||
Each shelf offered adventures that stretched far beyond the rural landscapes he
|
||||
knew. Fantasy, history, literature, poetry — he devoured everything. Tolkien’s
|
||||
richly woven worlds, epic historical accounts, and lyrical explorations of
|
||||
human emotion filled his imagination. “We had some good libraries where I grew
|
||||
up, and some good librarians who would nudge you in different directions when
|
||||
you’d read too much of one thing,” he remembers fondly. “They’d say, ‘Maybe you
|
||||
want to try this instead?’ I just couldn’t get enough of it.”
|
||||
|
||||
Those early years of voracious reading did more than nourish Tamblyn’s
|
||||
curiosity; they instilled a profound respect for the magic of books. It is
|
||||
within those tales that the former CEO of supply chain agency, BookNet Canada,
|
||||
wonders of endless possibilities contained within pages — something he would
|
||||
later strive to replicate on a global scale with Kobo. “In some ways, I’m still
|
||||
that child,” Tamblyn admits, his voice tinged with genuine affection. “Every
|
||||
day, I walk through the door and work with books, authors, and people who love
|
||||
reading. It all comes back to that feeling — stepping into a room filled with
|
||||
ideas, more than you could ever grasp.”
|
||||
|
||||
Established in Toronto in [19]2009, Kobo (a delightful anagram of the word
|
||||
“book”) began as a modest startup with a bold vision: to revolutionise how the
|
||||
world reads. Acquired in 2012 by Tokyo-based Rakuten Group, Kobo quickly grew
|
||||
into a global digital bookstore powerhouse, rivalling giants such as Amazon.
|
||||
Today, Kobo boasts millions of users worldwide, offering a catalogue of over
|
||||
seven million eBooks and audiobooks, accessible anytime, anywhere, on nearly
|
||||
any device.
|
||||
|
||||
[28ac5a4dc18a47567a006b09ed9f0b7b92939658b74ccebf04d827d8d3535fe0]
|
||||
|
||||
L-R: Serene Chong, Project Manager of Travellution Media, Ken Tan, Publisher of
|
||||
Mentor Publishing, Julian Chou, General Manager of Rakuten Kobo Asia, Denon
|
||||
Lim, President and Chief Editor of Lingzi Media, Michael Tamblyn, CEO of
|
||||
Rakuten Kobo, Hironori Shimada, Director of Rakuten Asia, Maureen Ho, Chief
|
||||
Editor of Focus Publishing, and Min Wei Lee, Division Manager of Ingram Micro
|
||||
|
||||
Photo: Rakuten Kobo
|
||||
|
||||
In March 2025, Kobo made a strategic leap into the burgeoning digital-reading
|
||||
market in Asia by launching Kobo Plus in Singapore. This subscription-based
|
||||
service gives users unlimited access to a vast library of over two million
|
||||
eBooks and 300,000 audiobooks, starting from an accessible fee of just S$9.99
|
||||
per month. “With Kobo Plus, we’re making reading more accessible and flexible
|
||||
than ever, giving book lovers the freedom to explore a diverse catalogue
|
||||
without limits,” Tamblyn explains.
|
||||
|
||||
The significance of Kobo’s Asian expansion isn’t lost on Tamblyn. As smartphone
|
||||
usage and digital content consumption surge in Asia, Kobo’s strategy taps
|
||||
directly into a new generation’s appetite for affordability, accessibility, and
|
||||
convenience. “eBooks have never been more popular in Singapore,” Tamblyn notes
|
||||
enthusiastically, attributing this trend to evolving reading habits and a
|
||||
digital-first mindset among younger readers. Kobo’s arrival in Singapore is
|
||||
thus timely, aligning perfectly with a regional shift towards digital
|
||||
storytelling.
|
||||
|
||||
“Everything we do, from product design to the reading experience itself, is
|
||||
about creating spaces where stories flourish,” Tamblyn reflects. His voice
|
||||
carries a quiet pride as he considers Kobo’s journey from a small Canadian
|
||||
startup to an influential global brand. “Back then, I walked into a little
|
||||
bookstore, in a little town, feeling I’d never read everything inside it,” he
|
||||
recalls. “Now, we have millions of books in numerous languages. That feeling of
|
||||
endless possibility exists on a scale I could never have imagined, yet the
|
||||
magic is stronger now than it ever was.”
|
||||
|
||||
Why we still read
|
||||
|
||||
In an age dominated by rapid-fire digital content and algorithm-driven
|
||||
engagement, one might wonder why anyone still reaches for a book. Yet,
|
||||
according to Tamblyn, the reasons for reading today have grown more profound.
|
||||
“I think it’s still the most immersive form of media that exists. The most
|
||||
beautiful pictures, the most incredible scenes, are always the ones you make in
|
||||
your own mind. Nothing creates that experience better than books do.”
|
||||
|
||||
And despite predictions heralding the demise of reading with each passing
|
||||
generation, books continue to attract fresh, eager cohorts of readers. “Every
|
||||
decade, every generation, we hear that this is the generation that’s going to
|
||||
stop reading,” Tamblyn notes with mild amusement. “And yet every generation, we
|
||||
get a new cohort of people who find books they love, that they’re just so
|
||||
passionate about — even though you have the best-funded, most aggressive
|
||||
companies doing everything they can to pull your focus somewhere else.”
|
||||
|
||||
Indeed, despite the relentless allure of visually stunning video games,
|
||||
binge-worthy television series, and endless scrolls through social feeds,
|
||||
readers still turn to books. Tamblyn sees this as evidence of something
|
||||
uniquely human. “Even with everything the gaming industry has advanced, even
|
||||
with everything the film and video industry has created, people still come back
|
||||
to this very simple media,” he reflects thoughtfully. “Because there’s nothing,
|
||||
I think, that immerses you longer or deeper than a book does.”
|
||||
|
||||
Books, Tamblyn believes, not only entertain; they challenge perspectives, and
|
||||
deepen our understanding of others. “Stories build empathy — we know this,” he
|
||||
insists passionately. “It puts you into another person’s experience. It lets
|
||||
you imagine different ways of living beyond the one you have right now.”
|
||||
|
||||
At its heart, Tamblyn argues, reading fosters a kind of psychological and
|
||||
emotional generosity that’s increasingly vital in a fragmented society. “On the
|
||||
non-fiction side, it lets you go deeper into an idea than a 20-second video
|
||||
ever could,” he continues earnestly. “It lets you go further into an argument
|
||||
or a concept than you can in 400 characters. And that’s what we need more of.”
|
||||
The simplicity and depth of books then become a counterpoint to today’s
|
||||
rapid-fire culture, where brevity often eclipses depth.
|
||||
|
||||
Reading as an act of resistance
|
||||
|
||||
[9d814a006d70691ed0d2e743251920f9c1e6f763049c4a7c610b7ea818179272]
|
||||
Photo: Rakuten Kobo
|
||||
|
||||
When reflecting on the inherent value of books as opposed to other forms of
|
||||
digital media, Tamblyn underscores the unique way reading allows sustained,
|
||||
uninterrupted exploration. “Once you’ve decided to start reading, no one is
|
||||
trying to intervene until you get to the very end of the book,” he observes,
|
||||
clearly energised by this idea. He contrasts this sharply with digital media’s
|
||||
strategic interruptions, where attention is systematically sliced, packaged,
|
||||
and sold. “There are lots of actors in the media world right now that want to
|
||||
slice your focus into tiny pieces,” he says. “Books, in a way, are the opposite
|
||||
of that.”
|
||||
|
||||
It is why Tamblyn believes that preserving books as a medium isn’t just
|
||||
cultural nostalgia — it’s a societal imperative. “The idea that we can put
|
||||
ourselves into other people’s lives and understand what those lives are like,
|
||||
and that we can dig deep into ideas instead of just living on their surface, is
|
||||
more important now than it’s ever been,” he stresses. His concern is that as a
|
||||
society, we must safeguard this profound form of engagement, lest we lose the
|
||||
capacity for meaningful understanding altogether.
|
||||
|
||||
When pressed to share a recent personal reading experience that resonated
|
||||
deeply, Tamblyn describes being profoundly affected by a book titled [20]
|
||||
Natural History of Vacant Lots by Matthew F. Vessel and Herbert H. Wong. His
|
||||
voice softens with appreciation as he recounts the narrative. “It’s about these
|
||||
abandoned spaces — vacant lots, places people left behind — and how nature
|
||||
fights its way back into these places humans left behind,” he recalls. “There
|
||||
was something about that idea that felt both stark and yet hopeful. Grounded
|
||||
very much in the world we’re actually living in right now.” For Tamblyn, the
|
||||
book’s power lay in its quiet authenticity, capturing the raw but hopeful
|
||||
tension between humanity and nature. “There’s genuine hope in that tension — an
|
||||
opportunity for growth, discovery, and renewal,” he muses. “There was just
|
||||
something about the writing itself that hit me at a deeper level than most
|
||||
books usually do.”
|
||||
|
||||
“We’ve managed to hold onto this idea — that it’s good to gain a deeper
|
||||
understanding of an idea, or to let yourself fall into a story,” Tamblyn
|
||||
concludes quietly yet firmly. “We don’t want people turning away from the idea
|
||||
that reading is a good thing. When you can no longer put yourself in somebody
|
||||
else’s shoes, when you can no longer go deeply into an idea — that’s when we
|
||||
really start to get into trouble.”
|
||||
|
||||
His words resonate clearly, serving as both caution and invitation. Perhaps we
|
||||
still read precisely because, deep down, we know that without stories, we risk
|
||||
losing ourselves. In a world constantly shifting, polarisation grows, and
|
||||
empathy seems to diminish, Tamblyn argues that books provide essential
|
||||
grounding. They encourage reflection and understanding, qualities vital to
|
||||
navigating modern life. And perhaps most importantly, books remind us of our
|
||||
shared humanity.
|
||||
|
||||
Navigating a changing industry
|
||||
|
||||
Today, Tamblyn is acutely aware that the literary world he loves is navigating
|
||||
increasingly turbulent waters. He leans back, carefully weighing his words as
|
||||
he discusses the critical shifts occurring within book publishing and
|
||||
bookselling — shifts that demand strategic agility from Rakuten Kobo and
|
||||
vigilance from the industry at large.
|
||||
|
||||
“One big thing is consolidation,” Tamblyn explains. “We have fewer companies
|
||||
getting bigger. Big companies are swallowing smaller ones.” He notes how this
|
||||
creates a troubling uniformity in publishing: fewer editors and publishers are
|
||||
left making critical decisions about which books see the light of day. “We have
|
||||
five big English-language publishers (Penguin Random House, HarperCollins,
|
||||
Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Hachette Book Group) right now, and they’re
|
||||
growing by acquiring smaller publishers, each of whom might have had a very
|
||||
different idea about what a book could be or the kinds of authors you should
|
||||
nurture.”
|
||||
|
||||
Yet, even within this concern lies opportunity. Tamblyn’s tone shifts subtly,
|
||||
becoming more hopeful as he discusses the rise of self-publishing and
|
||||
independent publishing. “As the mainstream publishing world becomes more
|
||||
consolidated, the independent publishing world becomes even more lively,” he
|
||||
asserts. For Kobo, this energetic and expansive independent scene is
|
||||
foundational. “Those two things hang in balance,” he observes. Kobo’s own
|
||||
self-publishing platform, [21]Kobo Writing Life, provides independent authors
|
||||
access to a global marketplace, bypassing traditional gatekeepers entirely.
|
||||
“What we find when we go out into the self-published world is there are lots of
|
||||
authors writing books people really want to read, who’ve never been able to get
|
||||
through traditional publishing barriers,” he explains. “And now, they don’t
|
||||
have to. They can use platforms like ours to directly reach millions of
|
||||
readers, and those readers are there, actively looking for them.”
|
||||
|
||||
[hqdefault]Play
|
||||
|
||||
But while self-publishing offers exciting prospects, it presents unique
|
||||
challenges too. When asked about advice for aspiring self-published authors,
|
||||
Tamblyn pauses thoughtfully. “To say you’re self-publishing is really to say
|
||||
you’re taking on all the jobs of a publisher for yourself,” he cautions.
|
||||
“Instead of just being an author who’s putting a book into the world, you’re
|
||||
really becoming a publisher of one.”
|
||||
|
||||
He stresses that independent publishing requires authors to master marketing,
|
||||
audience building, and promotional strategies, tasks traditionally handled by
|
||||
entire publishing teams. “Some authors love that,” Tamblyn acknowledges,
|
||||
smiling. “They love the control, the direct engagement with their readership,
|
||||
working with cover designers. But some just want to write. For those who just
|
||||
want to write, self-publishing can feel like they’re constantly being pulled
|
||||
away from the thing they love most.” It’s a tension that defines the modern
|
||||
publishing landscape — authors torn between autonomy and support, personal
|
||||
voice versus traditional validation.
|
||||
|
||||
Another significant challenge Tamblyn identifies is the dominance of powerful
|
||||
retailers, whose growing influence risks limiting diversity in readers’
|
||||
choices. “We have some very dominant companies that want to become even more
|
||||
dominant,” Tamblyn explains carefully. “Considering books can be an antidote to
|
||||
extremism, the last thing we want is for people to find books through just one
|
||||
algorithm or search box. You don’t want single points of control. You want lots
|
||||
of different people selling books in lots of different ways.”
|
||||
|
||||
This, Tamblyn believes, is safeguarding intellectual diversity. “You never want
|
||||
one single retailer deciding whether a book should find a market or reach an
|
||||
audience. You need lots of people working on that all the time.” It’s a
|
||||
conviction that Kobo itself embodies, striving to maintain a balanced, open
|
||||
digital marketplace where varied voices flourish without centralised
|
||||
constraints.
|
||||
|
||||
Amid these industry dynamics, the perpetual battle for readers’ heart and mind
|
||||
remains a relentless challenge. “We can never assume people will just wake up
|
||||
one morning and decide to read,” Tamblyn says firmly. “Especially when there
|
||||
are so many other things competing for their attention. We have to be just as
|
||||
aggressive about putting books in front of people as other companies are about
|
||||
pulling them away.”
|
||||
|
||||
For Kobo, meeting this challenge involves constant innovation. Recently, Kobo
|
||||
expanded its subscription service Kobo Plus, launching it in Singapore to
|
||||
capture the burgeoning Asian digital market. With subscription plans offering
|
||||
unlimited access to millions of eBooks and audiobooks at affordable prices,
|
||||
Kobo positions itself directly in response to evolving reader habits and
|
||||
expectations.
|
||||
|
||||
[hqdefault]Play
|
||||
|
||||
Kobo’s continuous technological evolution is equally central to Tamblyn’s
|
||||
vision. Their latest range of eReaders — devices like Kobo Libra Colour, Kobo
|
||||
Clara, and Kobo Sage — feature innovations such as waterproofing, ComfortLight
|
||||
PRO for reduced eye strain, and intuitive page-turn buttons, all meticulously
|
||||
designed to foster immersive, comfortable reading experiences. “Ultimately,
|
||||
it’s technology in the service of reading,” Tamblyn emphasises. “It’s
|
||||
industrial design in the service of reading. It’s software development in the
|
||||
service of reading.”
|
||||
|
||||
Navigating the complexities of the contemporary publishing industry is
|
||||
undoubtedly challenging. Yet Tamblyn seems energised by these very challenges.
|
||||
Each obstacle, he implies, creates room for innovation; each limitation invites
|
||||
creative solutions. And as Tamblyn surveys the complexities ahead, it becomes
|
||||
clear that he views Kobo as both a participant and a proactive steward of
|
||||
reading culture, committed to preserving books as accessible, vital spaces of
|
||||
imagination and connection — even amidst an industry experiencing profound
|
||||
transformation.
|
||||
|
||||
The future of words
|
||||
|
||||
Looking ahead into the evolving landscape of storytelling, Tamblyn sees a
|
||||
future where creativity and technology will blend in ways both exhilarating and
|
||||
challenging. Nowhere is this clearer — or perhaps more controversial — than in
|
||||
the growing presence of artificial intelligence within the literary world.
|
||||
“What AI has done for me is put a spotlight on the value of ideas and the value
|
||||
of words,” Tamblyn observes, “while at the same time highlighting how some
|
||||
people really just see words as raw material.”
|
||||
|
||||
Tamblyn’s perspective on AI is cautiously optimistic, yet deeply nuanced. He
|
||||
readily acknowledges the flood of AI-generated content that increasingly
|
||||
inundates platforms, including Kobo’s own self-publishing division, Kobo
|
||||
Writing Life. “We’re currently inundated by a river of AI-generated stuff, most
|
||||
of which is terrible,” he admits laughing. For Kobo, managing this influx of
|
||||
low-quality AI content has become both a logistical and philosophical
|
||||
challenge. “We don’t want people to have to filter through lots of bad content
|
||||
to find the good,” Tamblyn continues. “That means figuring out how to detect
|
||||
AI-generated content, sometimes using AI itself, which is its own challenge.”
|
||||
|
||||
[hqdefault]Play
|
||||
|
||||
Yet, for all its challenges, Tamblyn remains intrigued by the genuine
|
||||
possibilities AI offers to serious writers. Far from dismissing AI entirely, he
|
||||
anticipates it becoming an invaluable tool in the writer’s toolkit, reshaping
|
||||
the creative process itself. “We also know there are authors who are going to
|
||||
use AI as a tool — maybe as a research assistant, or as a way to collect and
|
||||
organise thoughts so they can produce bigger, more important works more
|
||||
easily,” he explains. “It might let them spend more time on the words
|
||||
themselves rather than collecting all the information behind it.” Today,
|
||||
Tamblyn imagines a future where AI quietly facilitates richer literary work,
|
||||
streamlining cumbersome processes without diminishing the originality and depth
|
||||
of human creativity. “We can safely assume that’s already happening — that many
|
||||
writers now have something sitting off to the side helping organise their text,
|
||||
collating research, or maybe handling a passage they can’t quite get right,”
|
||||
Tamblyn suggests. “Throwing it into the AI to see if the alternative feels
|
||||
better.”
|
||||
|
||||
But what about the fear that AI might eventually replace human authors
|
||||
entirely? “All these various AI techniques are fundamentally predictive by
|
||||
nature,” he points out. “They’re about creating works based on the average of
|
||||
all the works they’ve seen before. New writing and new literature, on the other
|
||||
hand, is always about stepping ahead of that — creating something you’ve never
|
||||
seen before. That’s directly in opposition to how an LLM functions.” In this
|
||||
crucial distinction, Tamblyn finds comfort — and confidence — that AI, while
|
||||
powerful, ultimately complements rather than threatens authentic creativity.
|
||||
“That fundamental idea of creativity is still, I think, the thing that
|
||||
relegates AI to a tool rather than a replacement for real writing,” he asserts.
|
||||
|
||||
Still, he doesn’t entirely rule out the possibility that something genuinely
|
||||
groundbreaking could emerge from an AI-driven collaboration. “Any time you put
|
||||
an artist in front of a new tool, they’re going to find ways to do something
|
||||
interesting,” Tamblyn acknowledges. “We’ll end up selling it, and we probably
|
||||
won’t even realise it until the author puts up their hand and says, ‘Listen,
|
||||
here’s how I made this.’”
|
||||
|
||||
Tamblyn reflects briefly, adding a practical note: the economics of
|
||||
AI-generated literature remain challenging. “Oddly enough, what seems to
|
||||
protect us from that right now is the cost of generating it,” he observes. “The
|
||||
computing power required is so expensive, and the amount of money you can
|
||||
actually make off a book is so small, that the gap is currently too wide.”
|
||||
|
||||
Choosing the reader, every time
|
||||
|
||||
As he peers further into Kobo’s future, Tamblyn reveals a guiding principle
|
||||
that grounds every strategic decision the company makes — one anchored firmly
|
||||
in his dual identity as both technologist and devoted bibliophile. “If we ever
|
||||
have to make a decision — if we ever have to choose between two paths — we
|
||||
always ask: what’s the thing that’s going to make a person’s reading life
|
||||
better?” he explains earnestly. “We look at that person who’s really put books
|
||||
at the centre of their life and choose the path that will make that person’s
|
||||
reading experience more enjoyable.”
|
||||
|
||||
Ultimately, Tamblyn’s vision for Kobo — and the broader literary world — is one
|
||||
where technology disappears seamlessly into the reading experience, empowering
|
||||
readers rather than distracting them. “We really win when the book takes over,
|
||||
when the author’s words take over, and all the technology and design fade
|
||||
away,” he says with quiet conviction. “If we can do that, then we’ve done
|
||||
something truly impressive.”
|
||||
|
||||
His optimism extends beyond the bounds of Kobo and into a broader hope for
|
||||
society. Despite pervasive cynicism and an increasingly polarised digital
|
||||
landscape, Tamblyn believes that humanity’s inherent creative impulse remains
|
||||
resilient and powerful. “We, as a species, have this impulse towards
|
||||
creativity, towards goodness and kindness that’s really hard to stamp out,” he
|
||||
reflects. “Even though we have a media landscape encouraging us to focus
|
||||
constantly on the negative, there are interesting, hopeful, optimistic things
|
||||
happening all around us all the time — if we can just pay heed to them.”
|
||||
|
||||
Tamblyn pauses. “So much of the work now, I think, in being a conscious person
|
||||
in the world, is about being disciplined about where we put our attention,
|
||||
instead of just letting it be managed for us.”
|
||||
|
||||
As our interview draws to a close, Tamblyn’s hopeful gaze turns towards a
|
||||
literary future rich with possibility, tempered by thoughtful caution. The path
|
||||
forward as he paints it is one of mindful innovation — of harnessing technology
|
||||
without losing sight of humanity. For Michael Tamblyn, the future of words is
|
||||
bright, precisely because it remains, unmistakably, human.
|
||||
|
||||
[25]Business Leaders
|
||||
|
||||
Share this article
|
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|
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References:
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[13] https://www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg/tag/business-leaders
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[14] https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepeakmagazine.com.sg%2Fpeople%2Frakuten-kobo-ceo-michael-tamblyn
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[15] https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepeakmagazine.com.sg%2Fpeople%2Frakuten-kobo-ceo-michael-tamblyn
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[16] https://t.me/share/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepeakmagazine.com.sg%2Fpeople%2Frakuten-kobo-ceo-michael-tamblyn
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|
||||
[19] https://sg.kobobooks.com/
|
||||
[20] https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/natural-history-of-vacant-lots?srsltid=AfmBOoqtmmvGsC8JCoylMGWjyKPkKGZPYX-BlT9Nas22WvL_pVfWdE-a
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||||
[21] https://kobowritinglife.com/
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[25] https://www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg/tag/business-leaders
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[26] https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepeakmagazine.com.sg%2Fpeople%2Frakuten-kobo-ceo-michael-tamblyn
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[27] https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepeakmagazine.com.sg%2Fpeople%2Frakuten-kobo-ceo-michael-tamblyn
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[28] https://t.me/share/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepeakmagazine.com.sg%2Fpeople%2Frakuten-kobo-ceo-michael-tamblyn
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|
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[31] https://www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg/
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[32] https://www.linkedin.com/company/thepeaksingapore/
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[33] https://www.instagram.com/thepeaksg/
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[34] https://www.facebook.com/ThePeakSingapore
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[35] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsSYfcPLJwgLoSxWvStzpPg
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[36] https://www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg/about-us
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[37] https://www.sph.com.sg/advertising-solutions/
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[38] https://www.sph.com.sg/contact-us/
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[39] https://www.sph.com.sg/legal/website_tnc/
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[40] https://www.sph.com.sg/legal/sph_privacy/
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[41] https://www.sph.com.sg/legal/pdpa/
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[42] https://www.sph.com.sg/
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